Cortland Standard .net

By ALAN BUTLER
Sports Editor
CHESTER, Pa. — There was a deafening din created by a volley of post-game celebratory fireworks set off along the shores of the Delaware River during Sunday’s early evening lingering daylight.
That probably kept everyone from detecting a much sweeter sound coming from this national champion SUNY Cortland women’s lacrosse squad inside adjacent PPL Park.
That would be a huge, joyous and resounding sigh of contented relief emerging from these talented and determined Red Dragons.
After four consecutive seasons of NCAA Division III Final Four frustration, after being denied getting to the title game by four consecutive closer-than-close semifinal setbacks dating back to 2011, the Red Dragons now rule the roost as the nation’s top Division III team.
Cortland capped this stellar 22-1 season in dominating fashion, too, while securing the program’s first national title and a 19th consecutive victory.
With senior midfielder Emma Hayes-Hurley giving the Red Dragons an edge in draws before being named the Most Outstanding Player, with sophomore Kristen Ohberg and freshman Hannah Elmer each scoring four times on attack, and with sophomore goalie Jaclyn Beshlian on her game with eight crucial saves (see separate story), Cortland disposed of past nemesis Trinity College with relative 17-6 ease in this title game.
That championship cruise came after the Red Dragons overcame an early 4-zip deficit to finally figure out this semifinal dilemma, coming up with a 19-12 comeback dismissal of Vermont’s Middlebury College the previous afternoon at this same locale outside of Philadelphia.
“I was definitely expecting us to win,” gleamed first-year head coach Kelly Lickert-Orr talking about her team’s mind-set heading into the rematch with Trinity. The Bantams out of Connecticut had trimmed the Red Dragons 8-7 a season ago, won 8-6 in 2013 and prevailed 7-5 in 2012 — all in NCAA semifinal match-ups.
“That’s been a curse for this team, so we were excited to get there,” she added of the semifinal success that finally carried Cortland into the finals. “And then the fact that we got to play Trinity, that was exciting because it’s been Trinity that’s knocked Cortland out of the Final Four. Now we’re on a new level, we’re at the championship game, and you pull Trinity. It brings, for the returning players, just a sense of urgency and we played with that today.”
“IT WAS SO AMAZING. We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” said Hayes-Hurley of getting revenge on Trinity. The senior sparkplug from Long Island contributed two goals and two assists while being the crucial character responsible for Cortland winning the battle for draws by a 16-9 margin.
“We knew we were going to face them eventually, we just didn’t know if it was going to be the semis or finals,” she added. “And I think having it in the finals was that much better. The revenge is just that much sweeter.”
The No. 2 nationally-ranked Red Dragons never trailed against No. 1 nationally-ranked Bantams (21-2) after a free position goal by Hayes-Hurley and an unassisted Elmer tally arrived some 18 seconds apart with less than three minutes having gone by.
Ohberg had a three-goal hat trick by the time halftime arrived, with a pair of Red Dragon goals scored by senior Marilyn Farrell in the final seconds providing 8-2 halftime breathing room.
The teams had exchanged last-minute turnovers, with Tara Monaghan getting possession back for the Red Dragons with 37 seconds left before intermission. That led to a free position scoring chance, with Elmer providing a pass to an unattended Farrell for a point-blank goal with 16 seconds left.
Cortland controlled the draw and the same situation arrived, this time Hayes-Hurley with the free possession opportunity that resulted into another pass that Farrell disposed into the Trinity goal with a mere 4.2 ticks on the clock.
Trinity’s second half comeback ambitions were thwarted by Hurley-Hayes winning eight of the first nine second half draws, though Clare Lyne’s second goal of the second half did get the Bantams within 11-5 with 12:54 left to play.
The next three goals belonged to Cortland, however.
OHBERG DREW A double-team driving towards the front of the goal and dished off for an Elmer finish with 9:03 left. Nicole Bello then scored back-to-back goals breaking free on goal at 7:46 and 6:51 to hike the Red Dragons lead to 14-5.
After Trinity’s Martha Griffin scored her team-high third goal of the game with 6:25 left, Cortland closed the show with a final flurry. Hayes-Hurley rifled home a left-handed shot with just over four minutes to play, and Elmer added a pair of late goals — the first of those off a pass from team assist leader Farrell.
“Coming off of yesterday’s game, we knew that if we didn’t have the ball then we couldn’t score,” said Cortland’s Monaghan, who made her own three-goal contribution in the title game. “So our focus today was to get the draw and get the ground balls because we knew if we had the ball in our sticks they couldn’t stop us.”
Cortland finished with a 30-18 shot advantage against a pair of Trinity goalies, back-up Emily Mooney with seven saves during her second half duty.
“Obviously, I think there are a lot of things that could have gone better,” said Trinity’s Katy Dissinger, who like counterpart Lickert-Orr is in her first season as the Bantams head coach. “Draw controls were definitely something that we struggled with. And it wasn’t that we felt like we’d get a piece of them and then there would be a check and it was just those unlucky kind of momentum shifts that didn’t particularly go our way.
“I always felt really confident with the attack, when we got it down on attack,” she added. “It was just maybe 20 percent down there during the game, so definitely kudos to Cortland for pushing the pace like that.”
TRINITY HAD NOT lost a game since falling 11-10 at Colby College in Maine back on Feb. 28. The Bantams have been in the NCAA tournament in eight of the past nine seasons, winning the national title in 2012.
Of course, Cortland has had its run of recent tournament success, too. And past disappointments proved to be a painful albeit productive learning experience.
“We haven’t forgotten,” said Hayes-Hurley of how her previous tournaments had ended, that string of semifinal stumbles started with a narrow 13-11 loss to Gettysburg in 2011 before she arrived on campus. “I knew the feeling of losing and it’s not something I wanted to experience again. We all had that mind-set.”
Coach Lickert-Orr now wants to continue this title trend, which is why in her opening press conference statement she noted: “We’re going to enjoy this moment, but we’ve got some work to be done in the off-season and prepare to hopefully be back here next year.”
ON SATURDAY —
Cortland 19, Middlebury 12: After falling behind 4-0 over the opening 10 minutes without a whiff of possession, the Red Dragons rallied to knock off Middlebury College in Saturday’s semifinal in overwhelming comeback fashion.
Cortland junior Ashley Gentile led all scorers with five goals, while Ohberg and Elmer added four goals and two assists apiece. Farrell handed out five assists for the winners, too.
Juniors Laurel Pascal and Alli Sciarretta topped Middlebury with four goals each. The Panthers’ season ended at 16-4 in head coach Missy Foote’s final game on the sidelines after 38 seasons at the Vermont school.
Cortland recovered to take an 8-6 lead into halftime and then reeled off three straight goalies — off the sticks of Hayes-Hurley, Monaghan and Gentile — to build the lead to 11-6. Middlebury pulled to within four goals twice before the Red Dragons pulled away.