OSWEGO, NY – The second-seeded Cortland women's lacrosse team used a 5-0 scoring run from midway through the second quarter until the end of the third quarter to pull away for a 9-4 victory at top-seeded Oswego in the championship game of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Cortland improves to 14-4 on the year, and earns the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Div. III playoffs with its 25th SUNYAC title all-time. The NCAA selection show will take place on Monday at 10:30 a.m. on NCAA.com, where Cortland will learn its opponent for the national tournament that begins Saturday May 9. Oswego ends the season at 13-5 as SUNYAC regular-season champions for the second season in a row.
Tournament MVP
Ashley Melillo (Massapequa) had two goals and an assist, and added two caused turnovers and two ground balls. She was joined on the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team by teammates
Bella Dembinski (Holbrook/Sachem East),
Emma Dempsey (Brewerton/Paul V. Moore),
Brooke Elizalde (Ronkonkoma/Connetquot),
Sydney Elizalde (Ronkonkoma/Connetquot), and
Lexi Caron (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius).
Dembinski and Dempsey each scored three goals,
Brooke Elizalde had two assists, and
Sydney Elizalde added a goal. Caron finished with two caused turnovers, two draw controls, and three ground balls, and
Bridie McGuire (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) and
Caroline Cox (Marcellus/Christian Brothers Academy) both scooped up two ground balls.
Trinity Parks (Port Crane/Chenango Forks) made seven saves and allowed only four goals for her 14th win of the year.
Oswego was led by two goals and an assist from Alexis Hill, while Aubri Greene added two goals. Sadie Zemanick finished with one caused turnover and one ground ball, while Addison Costello had one ground ball and one draw control. Those four were all chosen to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team.
Oswego got on the board first just 52 seconds into the opening quarter on a goal by Hill. The Lakers' next two offensive possessions were stymied thanks to three saves by Parks for Cortland.
Oswego doubled its lead on Hill's second goal of the game with under seven minutes left in the quarter, a player-up goal following a green card on the Red Dragons.
Melillo began a string of three consecutive Cortland goals with a free-position shot, and Dembinski and Dempsey added a goal each, to close out the first quarter with a 3-2 advantage in favor of the Red Dragons.
Oswego tied the game at 3-3 with just over eight minutes left in the first half on Greene's first goal of the game, but Cortland went on its decisive scoring run shortly after to grab momentum and control in the contest.
Sydney Elizalde tallied a goal off a feed from
Brooke Elizalde with 6:10 left to give Cortland the lead for good, and Melillo and Dembinski finished off the half with a goal each for a 6-3 lead at halftime.
The teams were scoreless for the first 13 minutes of the third quarter, with a combined 10 turnovers from the sides. Cortland then added to its lead with two goals in the final two minutes, Dembinski's third goal of the game off an assist from
Kaitlyn Tietjen (Delmar/Bethlehem Central) with 1:50 left and Dempsey's second tally with 57 seconds remaining.
Oswego broke its drought with 10:59 left in the final quarter to pull within four goals at 8-4, but Dempsey provided her third goal of the game to reestablish the five-goal margin for Cortland with 8:47 left.
Parks added two more saves, and the Red Dragons maintained possession for most of the final minutes, to secure the conference title for the third time in the last five seasons.
Following the contest, Cortland's
Chelsey Weber (Holtsville/Sachem East) was honored as the SUNYAC Elite 20 Award winner presented to the student-athlete with the higheset cumulative GPA at the championship finals site.
SUNYAC Women's Lacrosse All-Tournament Team:
Oneonta - Lindsay Townes
New Paltz - Lexi Atwater
Oswego - Alexis Hill
Oswego - Sadie Zemanick
Oswego - Addison Costello
Oswego - Aubri Greene
Cortland - Bella Dembinski
Cortland - Sydney Elizalde
Cortland - Lexi Caron
Cortland - Brooke Elizalde
Cortland - Emma Dempsey
Cortland - Ashley Melillo (MVP)
