CORTLAND, N.Y. – The No. 14 College at Brockport women's lacrosse team went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 ranked SUNY Cortland on Saturday in the State University of New York Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, falling 16-11.
 
The Golden Eagles fall to 14-3 on the year while the Red Dragons improve to 18-0.
 
Head coach Stephen Wagner's squad was in for a battle, facing off against the reigning national champions. Cortland got things started with a goal, but Samantha Dooling was able to even the count at 1-1 seven minutes into play.
 
The Red Dragons worked in three straight, before Jessica Boddery found the back of the cage on a Makensie Schuber set up to pull Brockport with two at 4-2 with 14:38 to play.
 
The Green and Gold saw Cortland work in four more goals, split by an Andrea Zlinsky goal down to the 6:43 mark for the 8-3 lead. The Golden Eagles weren't done, as Hannah Cullen and Makensie Schuber each netted scores before the end of the half to take an 8-5 deficit into the break.
 
Boddery opened the scoring in the second half, working to close in on Cortland right from the get-go. After the Red Dragons first score of the half, Kelly Wall went to work, netting two straight to pull the Golden Eagles within one, at 9-8 with 23 minutes to play.
 
Brockport couldn't hold off Cortland, as they pieced together three straight goals to reestablish their lead at 12-8. Schuber halted the streak with an unassisted goal at 17:34. The teams traded scores, with Boddery working in her third goal of the day with 13:30 to play, making the count 13-10.
 
Brockport saw Cortland piece together another two quick goals, but Wall was able to stop the streak, when she picked up a rebound off a free position and buried the ball in the back of the net to make the count 15-11 with 1:48 to play. The Golden Eagles saw Cortland sneak in one final goal to make the final count 16-11.
 
The Green and Gold edged their counterparts in shots, with a 26-24 count, and just missed in ground balls with a 16-14 tally. Brockport won the draw battle with a 16-13 edge, and forced 11 Cortland turnovers.
 
On defense, Katie Curran picked up two caused turnovers, with Lauren Mancini, Schuber, Courtney Szczesniak, and Wall each adding one. Curran also had three ground balls, with Ashley Tak, Wall, and Szczesniak each snagging a pair of GBs. Ciara McKeon came up with a big seven draw controls, with Szczesniak adding four.

Three Golden Eagles earned All-Tournament team honors, with Wall, Schuber and Szczesniak each named to the 2016 SUNYAC All-Tournament squad.

 
The Golden Eagles will await their fate to learn if they earned a bid to the NCAA Championship tournament. The 2016 bracket will be released by the NCAA on Sunday, April 8 at 9 p.m. To watch the release, click here.
 
Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Golden Eagle scores and awards by following @BportAthletics on Twitter and by liking the "Brockport Golden Eagles" Facebook page.