CORTLAND, NY – The Red Dragons jumped out to a 7-3 lead after one quarter, and rolled to a comfortable 16-11 victory over Mount Union in a non-conference women's lacrosse contest on Tuesday afternoon on Grady Field. Cortland improves to 2-2 on the season, while Mount Union drops to 2-3.
Kaitlyn Tietjen (Delmar/Bethlehem Central) registered a career-high four goals to lead Cortland, while
Bella Dembinski (Holbrook/Sachem East) added three goals and an assist and
Sydney Elizalde (Ronkonkoma/Connetquot) chipped in two goals and two assists.
Four other Red Dragons recorded multi-point games, with
Ashley Melillo (Massapequa) tallying two goals and an assist, and
Emma Dempsey (Brewerton/Paul V. Moore),
Rachel Rempe (Aquebogue/Riverhead), and
Natalie Bennett (Latham/Shaker) each finishing with a goal and an assist.
Bridie McGuire (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) led Cortland with eight draw controls, while Rempe added seven draw controls. Melillo had two caused turnovers and scooped up two ground balls, while
Emma Pagano (Oceanside) had three ground balls and caused one turnover to lead Cortland defensively.
Haylee Handrahan finished with three goals and an assist, while Ella Nejad scored three times for Mount Union. Emma Labbe recorded six draw controls, two ground balls, and added a pair of assists for the Purple Raiders.
Dembinski scored the first three goals of the game for Cortland, tallying the opening goal less than a minute in and scoring twice more after Mount Union had found the back of the net, to give Cortland a 3-1 lead with 11:44 left in the first quarter.
Cortland added four more goals, one each by Melillo,
Sydney Elizalde, Tietjen, and
Chelsey Weber (Holtsville/Sachem East), extending the lead to four after one period.
After the Purple Raiders scored a goal under a minute into the second quarter, the Red Dragons responded with three straight goals to open up a six-goal edge. Elizalde and Bennett each had a goal and an assist, while Tietjen added a goal, during the Cortland scoring run.
Mount Union went on a run of its own to end the first half, scoring three straight goals, including a goal by Nejad with 12 seconds left, to pull within three at 10-7 going into halftime.
Cortland regained momentum with two goals in the first three minutes out of halftime, with Rempe collecting the opening draw of the third quarter and scoring her third goal of the year. Shortly after, Rempe assisted on Dempsey's team-leading 10th goal of the season to make it 12-7.
Cortland outscored Mount Union 5-2 in the third quarter, including a goal by Melillo,
Kristen Javenes' (North Rockland) first goal of the season, and Tietjen's third goal of the game, to lead 15-9 heading into the fourth quarter.
Nejad scored a free-position goal for the Purple Raiders with under 10 minutes left, but Tietjen restored the six-goal lead for Cortland with her fourth goal of the game with 8:06 remaining.
Mia Bella Love (Mineola) entered into the game in goal following Tietjen's tally for her first collegiate action, stopping one shot and allowing one goal over the final minutes of Cortland's win.
