The nationally-ranked No. 14 Brockport women's lacrosse team travels to No. 17 SUNY Cortland on Sunday for the SUNYAC Tournament Championship game. The contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Defending Champs: Brockport travels to Cortland as the defending SUNYAC Champions after defeating Geneseo in the 2019 SUNYAC finals. Brockport defeated Geneseo 13-4 in the 2019 championship game to earn the program's first SUNYAC crown.
Heather Conklin posted four points on three goals and one assist, while
Allison Jennings chipped in with two goals in the title game.
Morgan Elmer stopped eight shots and earned the victory in net for Brockport.
Fancy Meeting You Here: In 2019 the Golden Eagles snapped Cortland's streak of 20 consecutive SUNYAC Tournament titles when they downed the Red Dragons in the SUNYAC semifinals by the score of 17-12 at host Geneseo. The last time these two teams met in the championship game was back in 2018 when Cortland came away with a 19-5 victory and hoisted the SUNYAC trophy. The two teams also met in the championship game in 2017 and 2016, with Cortland coming out on top in both contests.
Postseason Regulars: The Brockport women's lacrosse program has solidified itself as a national power over the course of the last 11 years. Since 2010, the Golden Eagles have won 143 games, including 63 conference victories. They have made five NCAA Tournament appearances and advanced to the second round of the NCAA's on four occasions. The green and gold have now made the SUNYAC Tournament Championship game seven times in the last 11 years.
2021 Tournament Results
Semifinals – April 29, 2021
#1 West, Brockport 16, #2 East, Oneonta 7 – Brockport, NY
#1 East, Cortland 14, #2 West, Geneseo 10 – Cortland, NY
National Rankings: Brockport moved up one spot to No. 14 in the latest release of the IWLCA Division III National Poll. Geneseo ranks 16th nationally and Cortland ranks 17th. Other notable regional programs in the top 25 include No. 7 Ithaca, No. 10 St. John Fisher, No. 19 William Smith and No. 21 Hamilton.
Regional Rankings: Brockport ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA East Region Rankings released by the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse national committee on April 28th. This week's regional rankings are the third set of rankings that will be released to the public and they will be used to determine both NCAA tournament bids and seeding. The final rankings will be generated on May 2nd and are used to determine the NCAA tournament selections which will be released during an online selection show on May 3rd at 10:30 a.m.
Red Hot Golden Eagles: Brockport has now won 10 straight games. The green and gold are currently 10-2 overall, with their only losses coming against No. 7 Ithaca and No. 16 Geneseo. They finished their home schedule with a perfect 7-0 record at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium. Brockport has outscored their opponents 184-62 over the course of the ten-game winning streak.
Frontrunner for Player of the Year: Graduate student
Heather Conklin has made the most of her final season as a Golden Eagle. She leads the league in both points (65) and goals (53). Her 53 total goals rank in the top 30 nationally. Conklin is the program's all-time leader with 220 career goals. She currently ranks third all-time with 273 career points and needs just three points to tie
Kelly Wall '17 for second place all-time. She also had 238 career draw controls and 119 ground balls.
Coach of the Year Candidate: Brockport Head Coach
Stephen Wagner, in his 10th season with the Golden Eagles, has his eye on his fourth SUNYAC Coach of the Year selection in the last six years. He won the award in '16, '17 and '19. Wagner now has 110 career victories at Brockport and he has guided the Golden Eagles to the Conference Tournament in ten straight seasons. In 2016, Wagner was named the IWLCA Empire Region Coach of the Year.
Getting it Done on Both Ends: Brockport leads the SUNYAC with 203 goals (16.92 gpg). Their average of 16.92 goals per game ranks 24th nationally and their average of 9.55 assists per game ranks 12th nationally. They also lead the league with a 7.17 goals against average.
Lock Down Goalie: All-American candidate
Morgan Elmer leads the conference and ranks 12th nationally with a save percentage of 59.1. She also leads the league in total saves (117) and goals against average (7.88). Elmer has won the conference's defensive player of the week award four times this season.
Offensive Juggernauts: Natalie Strough leads the SUNYAC and ranks 12th nationally with 36 assists this season.
Heather Conklin leads the SUNYAC with 53 goals and 65 total points. Three of the top four scorers in the conference are from Brockport: Conklin (65 points), Strough (53 points),
Allison Jennings (49 points).
30+ Club: Brockport has six players with at least 30 points this season.
Cassidy Burnash has 39 points on 32 goals and seven assists.
Danielle Hemly has 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists), and
Logan Hibbard has 31 points (20 goals, 11 assists).
A Closer Look at the Red Dragons: Cortland (11-1) has won 11 straight games after falling in their season opener on the road at Ithaca College. They are coming off a 14-10 victory at home over Geneseo in the SUNYAC Tournament Semifinals. Interim Head Coach Carissa Medeiros served as an assistant coach during the shortened 2020 season and is currently the interim head coach while Kelly Orr is on maternity leave. Hannah Lorenzen leads the Red Dragons with 54 points (38 goals, 16 assists) this season. Cecilia Procopio leads the team with 26 assists and ranks second with 35 total points. Paige Potter has started all 12 games in net for the Red Dragons and she has an 8.08 goals against average to go along with a .492 save %.
