Cortland Standard .net

Holding onto a slim one-goal lead at halftime, the SUNY Cortland women’s lacrosse team responded to that season-opening challenge in impressive fashion.
The Red Dragons scored the opening three goals of the second half and went on to put away visiting Union College for a 19-10 victory in a non-conference match-up on Tuesday afternoon.
A career-high six goals scored by junior Tara Monaghan led the way for the Stadium Complex hosts, Cortland coming into the game ranked third in the latest Division III national poll.
Union was within 9-8 at intermission before Cortland took over for new head coach Kelly Lickert-Orr. The Red Dragons finished with a lopsided 38-19 shot advantage which included a 19-6 second half edge, and also won 11-of-13 second half draws.
The slim Cortland lead grew to 12-8 just 5:40 into the second half before Union’s Natalie Sullivan stopped the run with a free-position goal at 23:51, the Red Dragons seized control with a seven-goal burst — including three consecutive from Monaghan — to make it a 19-9 game in the final minute. Union’s Maggie Comiskey completed the scoring off Kate Kurchena’s assist with 23 seconds on the clock.
Cortland held a 21-16 edge in ground balls and secured 20-of-31 draws.
While Monaghan produced her half-dozen goals, sophomore Kristen Ohberg finished with four goals and an assist for the Red Dragons. Senior Emma Hayes-Hurley, junior Ashley Gentile and freshman Hannah Elmer each had two goals and one assist.
Junior Elise Bennett also scored twice, while Marilyn Farrell picked up a goal and an assist. Junior goalie Liz Ingalls finished with eight saves for Cortland, Hayes-Hurley won eight draw controls, Monaghan added five draws and caused three Union turnovers and Gentile chipped in with four draws and two caused turnovers.
Comiskey paced the offense for the Dutchwomen (0-1) with two goals and three assists. Senior Emily McGrail, sophomore Jackie Hagopian and fellow soph Sullivan notched two goals apiece.
The first half featured plenty of offense as Cortland grabbed that 9-8 lead.
The Red Dragons broke out early, grabbing a 3-0 lead 2:32 into the contest as three different players scored. The teams traded the next four goals and Cortland held a 5-2 lead with 22:44 to play in the half.
The Dutchwomen put together a three-goal run in just over three minutes to pull even at 5-5. The Red Dragons went ahead 7-5 as Elmer and Ohberg scored 23 seconds apart, but Union tallied three of the next four goals to knot the game at 8-8. Cortland took the lead for good with 1:58 remaining in the opening half on a goal from Hayes-Hurley.
Union never got closer than three goals the rest of the way.
Cortland will have a key early-season showdown Saturday visiting No. 1 nationally ranked Gettysburg at 1 p.m. Gettysburg (3-0), which shares that top-spot in the rankings with Franklin & Marshall, was an 18-8 winner over Oneonta in a non-league contest Tuesday.