CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland won its first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) field hockey championship since 2011, Saturday at the Cortland Stadium Complex. The top seeded Red Dragons (17-3) defeated the #3 seed, New Paltz (7-12), 5-0, to grab their 15th overall SUNYAC field hockey title and first under head coach Tiffany Hubbard. With the win, the Red Dragons earned an automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA field hockey tournament.
Cortland got an early lead in the first five minutes as Hannah Burchell (Whitney Point, N.Y.) put the ball in the back of the cage off an assist from Anna Branch (Clifton Park, N.Y.). Amanda Glaser (Huntington, N.Y.) scored the second goal for the Red Dragons off a rebound with less than 10 minutes remaining in the half. Burchell went on to score her second goal of the game at 30:09 followed by a goal from Jess Gibaldi (Westbury, N.Y.) minutes later to give the Red Dragons a 4-0 lead going into halftime.
Glaser scored her second goal of the game off an assist from the Tournament MVP, Jessica Welsh (Hamilton, N.Y.) in the second half to help Cortland win the game 5-0. Kailynne Reinoehl (Lititz, Pa.) recorded the shutout in goal and had five saves for the Red Dragons.
Megan Gangewere (Nazareth, Pa.) had 15 saves in goal for the Hawks and was named to the All-Tournament team.
The SUNYAC Elite 20, an award modeled after the NCAA ELITE 90 program, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the conference championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. Saturday before the championship game, the conference recognized Cortland teammates Sara Reardon (Little Falls, N.Y.) and Shannon McGuinness (Carle Place, N.Y.) as the 2017 winners. Both student-athletes hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.87.
2017 SUNYAC Field Hockey All-Tournament Team
Julia Kim, Geneseo
Morgan Maley, Geneseo
Danell Jones, Oneonta
Sierra Palmatier, Oneonta
Megan Gangewere, New Paltz
Justine O'Reilly, New Paltz
Haley Kim, New Paltz
Anna Branch, Cortland
Megan O'Brien, Cortland
Meg Redmond, Cortland
MVP - Jessica Welsh, Cortland