CORTLAND, NY – The Cortland women's lacrosse team fell just short in an upset bid against nationally 10th-ranked William Smith on Saturday evening on Grady Field, dropping a 10-9 decision to the visiting Herons. William Smith improves to 3-0 on the year, while Cortland is now 1-2, with both defeats coming by one goal to nationally ranked opponents.
 
Ashley Melillo (Massapequa) had three goals and an assist for the Red Dragons, while Brooke Elizalde (Ronkonkoma/Connetquot) chipped in two goals and two assists. Emma Dempsey (Brewerton/Paul V. Moore) had a goal and two assists, and Sydney Elizalde (Ronkonkoma/Connetquot) scored twice.
 
Bridie McGuire (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) had four caused turnovers, scooped up six ground balls, and added two draw controls. Trinity Parks (Port Crane/Chenango Forks) stopped nine shots in goal for the Red Dragons.
 
Kira Fulton led William Smith with four goals, while Delaney Cassidy and Grace Rund each netted two goals. Rund also had seven draw controls for the Herons. Luly Kuhn finished with three caused turnovers and four ground balls.
 
Cortland possessed the opening draw and took the early 1-0 lead 43 seconds in after a lucky deflection on an attempted pass by Brooke Elizalde that caromed off a William Smith defender and into the net.
 
The Herons responded with a free-position goal, but Brooke Elizalde's second goal of the game gave the Red Dragons a 2-1 lead. After William Smith tied the score again with 9:24 left in the period, the teams were scoreless for the remainder of the frame, with Parks making three saves for Cortland during the stretch.
 
William Smith scored three times in the second quarter, while the Red Dragons got goals from Melillo on a free-position shot and Sydney Elizalde off a feed from Dempsey, as the Herons held the 5-4 edge at halftime.
 
Cortland opened the second half with three consecutive goals, two by Melillo and another by Sydney Elizalde, to go up 7-5 with 6:01 left in the third quarter. Cassidy scored a free-position goal for William Smith to get the Herons back within one heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Fulton scored twice for the Herons in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, before the Red Dragons scored two goals of their own, one by Dempsey and another by Kaitlyn Tietjen (Delmar/Bethlehem Central) with 6:28 left, to take a 9-8 lead.
 
Rund controlled the ensuing draw for the Herons, and Cassidy was able to score William Smith's fourth free-position goal of the game to tie the score at 9-9 with 4:42 remaining.
 
Another draw control for the Herons led to the game-winning goal by Rund with 3:41 remaining. Cortland had one final possession to tie the game late, but the Herons forced a turnover and were able to run out the remaining time to secure the win.