SUNYAC WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT PREVIEW 
FIRST ROUND: #6 POTSDAM BEARS AT #3 CORTLAND RED DRAGONS 
Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 – 3:00 p.m.
Alumni Arena – Cortland, NY

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TICKET AND SPECTATOR INFORMATION...
-Online Ticketing ONLY – ONLINE TICKETING LINK
-Adults - $6 ($5 plus $1 service charge) 
-Children Ages 5-17 - $4 ($3 plus $1 service charge)
-SUNYAC students with ID are free 
-Doors will open approximately one hour prior to puck drop

FIRST ROUND MATCHUP… Third-seeded Cortland hosts sixth-seeded Potsdam in the first round of the 2025-26 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Women's Hockey Tournament on Wednesday at 3 p.m in Alumni Arena.

This will be the second meeting of the sides in the last five days, as Potsdam earned a 1-0 home shutout over Cortland in the final game of the regular season for both teams on Saturday. 
 
Cortland holds a 22-17-5 advantage in the series between the teams since 2009. In the last 14 meetings of the sides, the Red Dragons are also 11-1-2 against the Bears, including 10 straight wins from 2021-24. However, the Red Dragons have been unable to solve Potsdam goaltender Magalie Parent yet this season, with the Bears' netminder recording two shutouts in two games against Cortland, the aforementioned 1-0 victory in Potsdam over the weekend and a 0-0 tie in Cortland in November. 
 
This will be just the second time that these two teams will meet in a conference tournament. Cortland earned a 3-2 victory at Potsdam in the semifinals of the 2018-19 Northeast Women's Hockey League (NEWHL), the conference that each side competed in until the SUNYAC began sponsoring women's ice hockey prior to the 2023-24 season. 

The Red Dragons are making their seventh consecutive appearance in the conference tournament and are looking to win their second SUNYAC crown in the last three seasons, also winning the conference title in 2023-24. Cortland has reached the conference finals in four of the previous six seasons.
 
Potsdam is searching for its first SUNYAC title, while making its first appearance in the conference tournament in the SUNYAC era. Under third-year head coach Olivia Cook, Potsdam has improved its record from six wins last season to 11 this year, while making a significant leap in conference play to 6-7-1 from a 2-12-4 league mark last season.  

THE PATH FORWARD… In a format that differs slightly from most other SUNYAC championship tournaments, women's hockey features re-seeding of teams after each round to protect the top overall seed. With a win on Wednesday, Cortland would advance to face second-seeded Oswego in the semifinals on Saturday, while Potsdam, as the lowest remaining seed, would head to top-seeded Plattsburgh. 
 
In other action in the first round on Wednesday, fourth-seeded William Smith will host fifth-seeded Canton for a spot in the semifinal round. 
 
The winners of Saturday's semifinal matchups will meet in the championship game the following weekend on Saturday, March 7, with the highest remaining seed hosting that contest. 
 
As is the case in all other SUNYAC-sponsored sports, the winner of the conference championship tournament will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III playoffs. 
 
SUNYAC WOMEN'S HOCKEY TOURNAMENT BRACKET
 
LAST TIME WE MET… Potsdam goalie Magalie Parent made 36 saves in goal to shut out Cortland by a 1-0 score in the SUNYAC finale for both sides on Saturday, Feb. 21.
 
Eline Gillodes (La Saulce, France/Kents Hill) stopped 22 shots in goal for the Red Dragons. Katie Mahoney (Toronto, ON/Toronto Leaside Junior) was 13-and-5 on faceoffs for Cortland, and led the team with seven shots on goal.
 
Parent recorded her fourth shutout of the season, and second shutout of the year against Cortland. Elise Clifford scored the lone goal of the contest, with Jalynn Castro providing an assist for the Bears.
 
The Red Dragons had a pair of power plays in the first period of action but could not capitalize with the extra skater. The first power play came just 49 seconds into the contest after a penalty on Potsdam for too many players on the ice, but Parent made five saves to help the Bears kill the penalty. The second power play came in the final three minutes, but Potsdam blocked three shots on the Cortland power play to keep the game scoreless into the intermission.
 
The Bears took advantage of the first Cortland penalty of the game to score a power-play goal, with Clifford firing a shot through traffic from the blue line that snuck past Gillodes at the 9:27 mark of the second period.
 
Potsdam carried its slim one-goal edge into the second intermission, although Cortland maintained a 24-17 edge in shots on goal through two periods of play.
 
Cortland nearly equalized on the power play early in the third period, but a shot from the right faceoff circle by Mahoney struck off the left post and stayed out.
 
With just over four minutes remaining in regulation, a turnover in front of goal by Potsdam gave Cortland a chance to tie the game, but Parent made an excellent save in close on a shot by Drew Kopek (Rome/Syracuse Valley Eagles U19).
 
The Red Dragons pulled Gillodes for an extra attacker in the final two minutes, but the Potsdam defense prevented Cortland from registering any shots on goal over that time to secure the victory.

THE CORTLAND CAPSULE… Cortland opened the season ranked 14th nationally in both the USCHO.com and DIIIHockeyNews.com polls. However, the Red Dragons suffered losses in three of their first four games to slip out of the polls, with each of the defeats coming to nationally ranked opponents. 
 
Cortland closed out the fall semester with three wins and a tie in the final six games of the 2025 year, including a 3-1 home win over #13/12 Elmira in its final home game of the semester. 
 
With the 2026 year came a 13-game unbeaten streak for the Red Dragons that featured an in-season tournament title at the Utica Kick Off Tournament and a 6-0-2 record in eight home games this semester. Cortland also scored 10 goals in a 10-1 victory over Buffalo State for its most goals in a single game since a 12-0 win over Stevenson to open the 2023-24 season. 

The Red Dragons dropped their final two games of the regular season to enter the week with a 14-7-4 record, securing the third seed in the conference tournament with an 8-4-2 record during league play. 
 
Cortland averages 2.76 goals per game, third in the SUNYAC, while only allowing 1.76 goals per game, a mark that is also third in the conference. The Red Dragons are led in scoring by junior forward Katie Mahoney, who has who has registered 26 points on 11 goals and 15 assists on the year. The top goal scorer for the Red Dragons is junior forward Kira Cook (Lake Ronkonkoma/Northwood School), with 13 goals. Mahoney's 1.04 points per game are tied for first in the conference, a mark that is also 46th in the nation, while Cook's 13 goals are tied for second in the SUNYAC.
 
In addition to Mahoney and Cook, Cortland has four other players who have registered at least ten points for the year – Fanny Aneborn (Linkoping, Sweden/Lulea HF Sweden), Carlen Bertrand (Timmins, ON/MCLA), Ainsley Delacourt (Stoney Creek, ON/Brampton Canadettes U22AA), and Grace Karakas (Duluth, MN/Duluth East). Bertrand is the second-leading scorer among defensemen in the conference, with 18 points on six goals and 12 assists.
 
Freshman Eline Gillodes has started every game in goal for Cortland, sporting a 13-7-4 record, a .929 save percentage, and a 1.69 goals-against average, along with four shutouts. Her four shutouts also rank 14th in the country, and is one of only five freshmen in the nation to record four shutouts this year. 
  
LET HER COOK… Kira Cook has scored six of Cortland's 10 power-play goals this season. Her six tallies on the power play are the most in the SUNYAC, also tied for sixth in the nation. Cook had two power-play goals in a win at Buffalo State, and one power-play goal each in home games against Plattsburgh, Canton, and Buffalo State. 
  
DEFENSE CAN SCORE TOO… Ainsley Delacourt and Kayla Persinger (Youngstown/Newark Ironbound 19UAAA) are first and second in program history, respectively, in scoring for defensemen in their careers. Delacourt has 11 goals and 49 assists for 60 career points, which is also tied for eighth among all Cortland players, while Persinger has 17 goals and 41 assists for 58 career points, 10th in program history.  
 
STARTS WITH THE FACEOFF… As a team, Cortland is third in the conference and 15th in the nation in winning percentage for faceoffs. The Red Dragons have gone 738-and-595 on faceoffs for a 55.4% winning percentage. Meanwhile, Katie Mahoney is second individually in the conference with 275 faceoff wins and Morgan Raymond (Kirkwood/Syracuse Valley Eagles 19UAA) is 15th in the conference with 118 faceoff wins. 
 
GOALS GALORE… Cortland's 10 goals in a 10-1 home victory over Buffalo State earlier this season were the most in a home game since the 2016-17 season, when the Red Dragons earned a 10-0 home victory over Post. In the past 25 years, Cortland has scored ten goals or more in a home game just six times, with the largest margin of victory in a home game coming in 2003-04 in an 11-0 victory over Chatham. 

SUNYAC WEEKLY HONORS… Cortland has claimed SUNYAC weekly honors 10 times during the season. Eline Gillodes was selected as the conference Rookie of the Week four times, as well as the Goalie of the Week twice. Katie Mahoney was chosen as the Athlete of the Week on two occasions, while Kira Cook and Carlen Bertrand were both also selected as the Athlete of the Week once.  
 
BREAKING DOWN THE BEARS… Potsdam enters Wednesday's first round with an 11-12-2 overall record. The Bears secured the sixth seed by winning their final two conference games to post a 6-7-1 league mark. 
 
Potsdam has scored just 38 goals in 25 games for an average of 1.52 goals per game. In fact, 28.9% of the goals have come from one player for Potsdam – Jalynn Castro. Castro has 11 goals and seven assists to lead the team with 18 points, while Rebecca Cain is second on the team with 10 points on two goals and eight assists. Castro's four game-winning goals on the season are tied for the conference lead, and rank 14th nationally.
 
Potsdam's Magalie Parent has played in 22 games in goal, sporting a .937 save percentage, 1.97 goals-against average, and four shutouts. Her save percentage ranks 29th nationally and her shutouts are 14th in the country, while her 624 total saves are the most in the conference.   
 
During the season, Potsdam had a 7-3-1 record at home, while the Bears were just 3-8-1 on the road. Potsdam scored only 14 goals in those 12 road contests for an average of 1.17 goals per game.


SCHEDULES/RESULTS (click team to access online schedules)…

CORTLAND RED DRAGONS: 14-7-4 (8-4-2 SUNYAC)

POTSDAM BEARS: 11-12-1 (6-7-1 SUNYAC)