CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior Erin Kollar (East Islip) scored seven points on five goals and two assists to lead the nationally second-ranked Cortland women's lacrosse team to a 12-5 victory versus Buffalo St. Saturday afternoon in the SUNYAC Final at the Stadium Complex. With the win, the Red Dragons improved to 17-1 on the season and captured their 14th consecutive SUNYAC title and an automatic NCAA Div. III playoff berth. The Bengals dropped to 13-6 with the setback.

Cortland junior Maria Di Fato (Camillus/West Genesee) scored five points on three goals and two assists and recorded four draw controls and two caused turnovers, earning tournament MVP honors. Senior Lindsay Abbott (South Onondaga/Onondaga Central) registered one goal and three assists, senior Jordan Miller (Liverpool) and juniors Laura Edward (Blue Point/Bayport-Blue Point) and Natalie Melaniff (Wantagh) each netted a goal and freshman Marilyn Farrell (Fayetteville/Fayetteville-Manlius) chipped in with an assist.

Junior goalie Shauna Hutchinson (Islip Terrace/East Islip) stopped five shots, all from point-blank range. Kollar and junior Meg Rowe (Baldwinsville) collected four ground balls apiece, while Edward caused three turnovers.

Senior Karen Shaddock (Corning/Corning East) led Buffalo St. with two goals and three assists. Seniors Kendyl Clarkson (Painted Post/Corning West) and Mariah DeBolt (Waterloo) and sophomore Niki Paulhardt (Hanover, MN/Oswego) each scored one goal. Freshman goalie Colleen George (Johnson City/Maine-Endwell) stopped five shots. Junior Ashley Caporizzo (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) won four draw controls.

After Paulhardt gave the Bengals the lead one minute, 19 seconds into the game, the Red Dragons answered with three straight scores for a 3-1 advantage. Di Fato tallied back-to-back goals and Abbott netted an unassisted score at 20:00. Shaddock pulled the Bengals to within 3-2 at 17:31, but the Red Dragons closed the half with five consecutive goals, three off Kollar's stick, to take control of the game, 8-2.

Clarkson and DeBolt sandwiched goals around Di Fato's third of the game and Cortland held a 9-4 lead with 26:19 remaining. Kollar, however, helped the Red Dragons pull away by assisting on Melaniff's goal at 22:20 and then netting back-to-back goals at 17:57 and 11:15 as Cortland led 12-4. Shaddock scored her 96th goal of the season from the free position at 6:56 to complete the scoring as Cortland was able to run off the last few minutes of the game with possession for the 12-5 final.

Joining Di Fato on the All-Tournament Team were Kollar, Hutchinson, Melaniff and junior Jamie Flood (East Islip) from Cortland, Caporizzo, senior Jamie Handley (Auburn) and sophomore Kelsey Hodge (Clarence) from Buffalo St., senior Amy Simon (Amherst) and sophomore Katie Kleine (Cazenovia) from Fredonia St. and junior Kaila Maguire (Potsdam) and freshman Colleen Hathaway (Watertown/South Jefferson) from The College at Brockport.

GAME SUMMARY:

Cortland 12, Buffalo St. 5

Team                                    1-2    Final
Buffalo St.(13-6)                  2-3        5
Cortland (17-1)                    8-4     12

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Buffalo St.: Karen Shaddock 2-3, Kendyl Clarkson 1-0, Mariah DeBolt 1-0, Niki Paulhardt 1-0
Cortland: Erin Kollar 5-2, Maria Di Fato 3-2, Lindsay Abbott 1-3, Jordan Miller 1-0, Laura Edward 1-0, Natalie Melaniff 1-0, Marilyn Farrell 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Buffalo St.: Colleen George, 5 saves (12 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Shauna Hutchinson, 5 save (5 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 30, Buffalo St. 13  
Ground Balls: Cortland 22, Buffalo St. 11
Clears: Cortland 12-of-14, Buffalo St. 7-of-12  
Draw Controls: Cortland 10, Buffalo St. 9
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 9, Buffalo St. 3
Turnovers: Buffalo St. 13, Cortland 11
Fouls: Cortland 26, Buffalo St. 21