Colby Edges Cortland St. 10-9 in NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament
Courtesy Hamilton Sports Information
CLINTON, N.Y. - Colby College's Anne Geraghty '11 snapped a 9-9 tie with her 14th goal this year with 4:37 left in the second half, and the Mules edged SUNY Cortland 10-9 in a 2010 NCAA women's lacrosse championship regional semifinal at Hamilton College's Steuben Field on May 15.
Colby (15-4 overall) advances to the regional final, where the Mules will take on undefeated Hamilton at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 16, at Steuben Field. The Continentals defeated the Mules 13-6 in a 2008 NCAA regional semifinal played at Hamilton.
Cortland (17-3) had its nine-game win streak and season come to an end. The Red Dragons, who earned an automatic bid by winning the SUNYAC tournament, were making their 14th NCAA appearance and are 9-14 all-time in the tournament. Cortland hammered Norwich University 19-3 in the first round on May 12.
Kate Pistel '13 paced Colby's offense with three goals, two assists and two draw controls. Casey Thomas '11 chipped in three goals and Lane McVey '12 had two. Caroline Atwater '10 was credited with three assists. Sarah Warnke '11 made five saves. Lisa Hoopes '13 scooped up three ground balls and Lexi Crook '11 caused two turnovers.
Jess Fritz '10 did a little bit of everything for the Red Dragons with three goals, two assists, three ground balls and two draw controls. Kelly Radigan '12 added two goals and two assists and Lindsay Abbott '12 had two goals, one assist and two draw controls. Erin Kollar '12 scored twice and Ally Levy '13 stopped three shots. Maria Di Fato '13 picked up four ground balls and caused two turnovers.
After Fritz's 41st goal of the year gave Cortland a 4-3 lead with 17:03 left in the first half, the teams exchanged a series of mini-runs. The Mules scored three straight for a 6-4 lead with 4:11 remaining. Pistel had a hand in all three goals with one tally and two helpers.
The Red Dragons followed with a 5-0 spurt that spanned the first and second halves. Kollar's goal with no time left knotted the score at 6-6, and her 11th goal gave Cortland a 9-6 advantage with 16:02 left. However, the Red Dragons' offense was shut down the rest of the way.
Colby scored the final four goals in the decisive final 13 minutes. Thomas pulled the Mules within two on her 16th goal with 12:53 remaining, and Pistel's 27th just 46 seconds later made it a one-goal game. McVey tied the score with her ninth goal with 7:29 left, which set the stage for Geraghty's game-winner.
Cortland had the ball and called timeout with 2:47 left, but Crook forced a Red Dragon turnover, and Colby ran out the final minute.
The Mules held a slight edge in shots (20-18) and ground balls (15-13), and both teams won 10 draw controls. Colby had 15 turnovers and Cortland finished with 14.
Colby received an at-large bid out of the New England Small College Athletic Conference and the Mules are in the NCAA championships for the fourth time -- all since 2006. Colby routed the University of Southern Maine 16-5 in the first round on Wednesday.
