Cortland and New Paltz will face off in the 2017 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) field hockey championship, Saturday at 1 p.m., in Cortland. Top seeded Cortland defeated Geneseo, 3-0, at home while New Paltz upset #2 and host Oneonta, 2-1, Wednesday in the SUNYAC semifinals.
Cortland scored two goals in the first half with the first coming from Liz Athing (Bay Shore, N.Y.) assisted by Anna Branch (Clifton Park, N.Y.). The second goal was from Dani Barto (Nichols, N.Y.) assisted by Shannon McGuinness (Carle Place, N.Y.) to make it 2-0 going into halftime. Megan O'Brien scored her eighth goal of the season to increase Cortland's lead to 3-0 minutes into the second half. Kailynne Reinoehl (Lititz, Pa.) had three saves in goal and recorded the shutout for the Red Dragons.
In the second semifinal of the day, New Paltz's Hayley Kim (West Hurley, N.Y.) scored first, but Oneonta's Sierra Palmatier answered to make it 1-1. Less than 10 minutes later Carly Croteau (Bayport, N.Y.) scored the game winning goal for the Hawks. Megan Gangewere (Nazareth, Pa.) had seven saves for New Paltz in goal.
Geneseo ends its season at 10-8 overall while Oneonta ends at 13-6.
