CORTLAND, NY – The Cortland women's lacrosse team scored the first nine goals of the game, and coasted to a 17-3 win over New Paltz in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Semifinals on Wednesday on Grady Field.
 
Cortland improves to 11-6 on the year, and will head on the road to face Oswego in the title game on Saturday. New Paltz ends the season at 14-4.
 
Gemma Guy (Homer/Tully) led Cortland with four goals and an assist, while Ashley Melillo (Massapequa) provided three goals and an assist. Nicole Iapoce (Clintondale/Highland) and Brooke Elizalde (Ronkonkoma/Connetquot) each scored three points with two goals and an assist. Elizalde also added two caused turnovers and three ground balls.
 
Trinity Parks (Port Crane/Chenango Forks) was excellent in goal to earn the win, allowing just three goals and making 10 saves. Lexi Caron (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) recorded two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Chelsey Weber (Holtsville/Sachem East) had four draw controls and two caused turnovers.
 
Lexi Atwater scored two of New Paltz's three goals, and Piper Mascaros made nine saves in goal for the Hawks.
 
Cortland got on the board first with a free-position goal by Toni Cashman (East Moriches/Westhampton Beach) with 10:37 remaining in the frame. Melillo's first goal of the game doubled the Cortland lead, before Cashman netted another goal to put Cortland up by three. Emma Dempsey's (Brewerton/Paul V. Moore) 20th goal of the season, from the free position, gave Cortland a 4-0 lead after one quarter.
 
Guy scored the first two goals of the second quarter for Cortland, including the second player-down goal of the game. Melillo found the back of the net for her 27th goal of the season, and Iapoce made it 8-0 with 7:27 remaining. Elizalde's scored her first goal of the game with 5:01 in the half, but New Paltz scored twice in the final 3:20 to reduce the Cortland lead to seven at the half.
 
The Red Dragons had four different players score a goal in the third quarter, including another free-position goal by Dempsey, and goals each by Guy, Elizalde, and Natalie Bennett (Latham/Shaker) gave Cortland a 13-2, before the Hawks scored the final goal of the frame.
 
Cortland netted four more goals in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. Iapoce and Melillo scored to give Cortland a 15-3 lead in the first four minutes of the frame, before Guy and Mia Mitchell (Akwesasne/The Hill Academy) both scored player-up goals to complete the scoring.