MIDDLETOWN, CT – The Cortland women's lacrosse team scored the first four goals of the game, and rolled to a 14-8 victory over nationally 19th-ranked Colby in the first round of the NCAA Div. III playoffs on Saturday afternoon at Wesleyan University.
Cortland improves to 15-4 with its third straight victory, and advances to face host and nationally second-ranked Wesleyan in the second round on Sunday. Colby finishes the season with a 9-8 overall record.
Emma Dempsey (Brewerton/Paul V. Moore) scored four goals for the Red Dragons, while
Sydney Elizalde (Ronkonkoma/Connetquot) added three goals and
Brooke Elizalde (Ronkonkoma/Connetquot) and
Kristen Javenes (North Rockland) each two goals and an assist.
Bella Dembinski (Holbrook/Sachem East) provided a career-high three assists, and
Ashley Melillo (Massapequa) scored twice.
Trinity Parks (Port Crane/Chenango Forks) made a season-high 10 saves in goal, and
Rachel Rempe (Aquebogue/Riverhead) had two caused turnovers and four draw controls for Cortland.
Joselyn Silva scored three goals for Colby, while Olivia Kraus and Charlotte Michener each tallied two goals and an assist. Gisele Uva had five caused turnovers and six ground balls.
Melillo opened the scoring in the game for Cortland just over three minutes into the opening quarter, and
Sydney Elizalde and Dempsey each followed with their first goals of the game to extend the Red Dragons' lead to 3-0 with 6:03 remaining. Meanwhile, the Cortland defense forced Colby into turnovers on each of its first three possessions of the contest.
After Parks made a save on a free-position shot for the Mules and
Kaitlyn Tietjen (Delmar/Bethlehem Central) scored Cortland's fourth goal on its fourth shot on goal to make it 4-0 with 3:30 remaining, Colby used a timeout and made a goalkeeper change to try to shift momentum.
The Mules got a free-position goal by Michener with under two minutes left, and pulled to within two goals at 4-2 with another tally early in the second quarter, but Dempsey responded with a free-position goal to give Cortland a 5-2 lead with 4:36 left in the half.
Silva scored her first goal of the game for Colby with 3:22 remaining, but
Sydney Elizalde and Melillo both scored their second goals of the game in the final two minutes of the period, with Melillo's goal coming with only four seconds left in the half on a quick shot after a feed from Dembinski from the right side.
The Red Dragons outscored the Mules by a 5-2 margin in the third quarter to take control of the contest and hold a 12-5 lead into the final period. During the frame, Javenes scored two goals, while Dempsey and both Elizalde sisters each netted one goal.
Colby got back to within six goals with another Silva tally early in the fourth quarter, and had shots saved by Parks back-to-back possessions to prevent the Mules from reducing the deficit further.
Goals by Dempsey and
Brooke Elizalde with under five minutes left extended Cortland's lead to 14-6 with 3:04, and although the Mules tallied two late goals, the Red Dragons finished off the comfortable 14-8 victory to advance to tomorrow's second round.
