Courtesy of Cortland Sports Information Department
The SUNY Cortland women's lacrosse team will open the 2018 NCAA Division III playoffs with a first-round game versus Plymouth State University (N.H.) on Saturday, May 12 on the campus of Amherst College in Massachusetts. Game time is to be determined.
The winner of the game between the Red Dragons (15-4) and the Panthers (14-3) will face host Amherst (15-2) in the second round Sunday. That winner will advance to a four-team NCAA regional May 19-20 at a site to be determined. The Division III national semifinals and finals will be held May 26-27 at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va.
Under fourth-year head coach Kelly Lickert-Orr, the Red Dragons earned a berth into the 42-team NCAA field after capturing their 20th straight State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament title. Cortland won the SUNYAC regular-season title with an 8-0 league mark, then captured the league crown and NCAA bid by defeating third-seeded Brockport, 19-5, in the championship game Saturday in Cortland.
The Red Dragons will be making their 20th straight NCAA appearance and 22nd overall (Cortland also competed in five AIAW or USWLA national tournaments from 1979-1984). Cortland lost at Messiah, 14-13, in the NCAA second round last year after receiving a first-round bye. Prior to that, the Red Dragons advanced to at least the national semifinals six straight years from 2011-16. In 2015, during Lickert-Orr's first year as head coach, Cortland finished 22-1 and won the school's first national title. The Red Dragons lost in the national semifinals in 2016 as well as four straight years from 2011-14.
Plymouth State earned its NCAA berth after defeating Eastern Connecticut State, 19-8, to win the Little East Conference championship Saturday. The Panthers are making their seventh NCAA tournament appearance and first since 2014. Cortland is 2-0 lifetime versus Plymouth State with victories in 1982 and 1984.
All four of Cortland's losses this year were by one-goal margins, with three of those games versus teams in the NCAA tournament field (Franklin & Marshall, Trinity (Conn.) and St. John Fisher).
NCAA Selection Release
Interactive Bracket
