Red Dragons Fall to #11 MIT in NCAA Field Hockey First Round
Cortland Sports Information Department
CAMBRIDGE, MA. – The nationally 11th-ranked MIT field hockey team built a 4-0 midway through the fourth quarter and defeated Cortland, 4-1, Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Div. III Field Hockey Tournament. The Red Dragons finished the season at 14-5 and tied for 17th nationally. The Engineers improved to 16-4 and advanced to face four-time defending national champion Middlebury on the road in the second round on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Senior Lily Fox (Northport) scored her 11th goal of the season for Cortland and finished 20th in career scoring with 81 points on 30 goals and 21 assists in three seasons on the field. Freshman goalie Emma Morgan (Whitney Point) made five saves.
Marisa Liu scored twice for MIT. Alice Zehner and Paige Forester each tallied a goal, and Liberty Ladd contributed an assist. Anna Duncan started in goal, making seven saves in 53:53 before giving way to Kiely Smiga-McManus, who stopped two shots over the final 6:07. Ladd chipped in with a defensive save.
In the first quarter of play, Cortland generated several scoring chances on penalty corners but could not put a shot in the cage. The Engineers took the lead at the 11:05 mark when Liu scored off a rebound at the far post after a blocked shot. The teams combined for just three shots in the second quarter as MIT took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Zehner made it a 2-0 game 1:57 into the third quarter on a deflection in front on a penalty corner. Liu's second goal of the game on a shot from the left side 6:34 into the fourth quarter pushed MIT's lead to 3-0. Eighty seconds later, Forester scored on a reverse-stick shot from the middle of the circle after intercepting a clear attempt by Morgan. Fox spoiled the shutout bid with 1:25 remaining, scoring on a reverse-stick shot off a loose ball from the left side for the 4-1 final.
MIT 4, Cortland 1
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Lily Fox 1-0
MIT: Marissa Liu 2-0, Alice Zehner 1-0, Paige Forester 1-0, Liberty Ladd 0-1
Halftime: MIT 1, Cortland 0
Shots: Cortland 19, MIT 12
Penalty Corners: Cortland 13, MIT 8
Saves: Emma Morgan (Cortland) 5 saves (4 GA in 60:00); Anna Duncan (MIT) 7 saves (0 GA in 53:53), Kiely Smiga-McManus (MIT) 2 saves (1 GA in 6:07), 1 Defensive Save
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 14-5, MIT (Engineers) 16-4 (ranked 11th nationally in Div. III)
