BROCKPORT, N.Y. – With five goals,
Kelly Wall became the all time goals leader in The No. 4/19 College at Brockport women's lacrosse win over State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) rivals No. 9/18 SUNY Cortland on Tuesday, bypassing the Red Dragons, 16-11.
The Golden Eagles improve to 13-1 on the year and remain unbeaten in league play at 7-0, while the Red Dragons fall to 11-4 in 2017 and 6-1 in the SUNYAC.
With title implications on the line, head coach
Stephen Wagner's squad came out fired up, rattling off two straight goals. Wall found the back of the cage on back-to-back looks to take the early 2-0 lead. The Red Dragons snuck in a pair to tie it, but the Green and Gold reclaimed the lead following
Heather Conklin and
Hannah Cullen goals by the 14:25 mark.
Brockport saw Cortland work in a shot, but again had the two-goal answer, this time a Conklin score and a
Jessica Boddery goal off the
Katie Curran set up for the 6-3 edge. The Golden Eagles continued to work find the answers to the Red Dragon goals, and after a single score at the 8:18 mark, they added a pair from Wall and Boddery to push their lead to 8-4.
To close the half, the teams traded scores, with
Tess Knight burying a Wall pass and
Andrea Zlinsky working into the scoring column in the final 25 seconds of play to give the Green and Gold a 10-6 lead heading into the break.
In the second half, Cortland came out with purpose, netting three straight scores. The Brockport offense gathered its composure and put an end to the Red Dragon streak, with a pair of scores from Wall and Conklin to maintain a 12-9 edge. After a single Cortland score, the Golden Eagles tacked on four goals, with Boddery and Wall adding a goal each. The Wall goal was her 172 of her career, which makes her the all-time leader in goals in Brockport history.
Taylor Thomas found the back of the cage on back-to-back looks, to push the Green and Gold to a 16-10 edge. The Red Dragons added a late goal, but it wasn't enough as Brockport held on for the 16-11 win. The Brockport win snaps a 63-game Cortland regular season SUNYAC winning streak, dating back to exactly eight years ago.
Brockport edged their counterparts in shots (32-25), shots on goal (24-20), saves (9-8) and draw controls (17-12). The Green and Gold went 13-for-15 on clears and forced 11 Cortland turnovers.
The Green and Gold had a strong day on both sides of the ball, with Wall leading the way with seven points off five goals and a pair of assists. The senior added three ground balls, three draws and two caused turnovers. Six other Golden Eagles worked into the scoring column, with Boddery and Conklin adding three each and Thomas tacking on two. On defense,
Cassandra Minerd notched seven draws and four caused turnovers to go with one ground ball. Conklin, Cullen and Zlinsky each picked up two CT's, while Thomas added three ground balls.
Sara Shaddock stood tall in goal for the Green and Gold for all 60 minutes of action, making 11 saves on the day.
The Golden Eagles will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, April 29 when they head to SUNY New Paltz.
Be sure to stay up to date on all your Golden Eagle scores and awards by following @BportAthletics on Twitter and by liking the "Brockport Golden Eagles" Facebook page.
