Cortland Women's Lacrosse to Travel to Tufts for NCAA Second Round Sunday
Cortland Sports Information Department
The Cortland women's lacrosse team has earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs and will travel to Tufts University for a second-round game on Sunday, May 14, at a time to be announced.
The Red Dragons (14-4) and the Jumbos (14-4) each received a bye into the second-round of the 46-team NCAA tournament. The winner advances to a four-team regional May 20-21 at a site to be determined. The national semifinals and finals will be held May 26 and 28 at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va.
The Red Dragons, led by second-year head coach Kelsey Van Alstyne, were the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) regular-season champion but lost to Geneseo, 11-9, in the conference tournament finals this past Saturday. Cortland earned one of 13 "Pool C" at-large berths into the playoffs.
The Red Dragons will be making their 25th NCAA appearance (Cortland also competed in five AIAW or USWLA national tournaments from 1979-1984). Last season the Red Dragons defeated Western Connecticut State, 18-8, and Roger Williams, 14-11, in the opening two rounds at home before losing at TCNJ, 13-6, in the third round to tie for ninth place nationally. Cortland advanced to at least the national semifinals six straight years from 2011-16, winning the national title in 2015.
Tufts was the number three seed in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tournament and defeated Amherst, 11-9, and Wesleyan, 13-11, before falling to nationally top-ranked Middlebury, 19-13, in the championship game. Former Cortland associate head coach Courtney Shute is in her 10th season as the Jumbos' head coach. She led the program to national runner-up finishes each of the last two years as well as the national semifinals in 2019. In all, Tufts will be making its eighth NCAA showing.
Cortland is 4-1 all-time versus Tufts, including a 13-7 win in Cortland in the 2011 NCAA second round. In the teams' last meeting, Tufts won, 13-11, at Cortland in 2017 to end the Red Dragons' 83-game home winning streak.
