Cortland to Host Western Conn. St. in NCAA Women's Lacrosee First Round Saturday
Cortland Sports Information Department
The SUNY Cortland women's lacrosse team will open the 2022 NCAA Division III playoffs by hosting a three-team, first and second-round pod on Saturday and Sunday, May 14-15. The Red Dragons (15-4) will face Western Connecticut State (15-4) in a first-round game on Saturday, and that winner will play Roger Williams (16-1) in the second round at Cortland on Sunday. The tentative start time for each game is 1 p.m.
The winner of the pod will advance to a four-team regional May 21-22 at a site to be determined. The national semifinals and finals will be held May 28-29 at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va.
The Red Dragons, led by first-year head coach Kelsey Van Alstyne, earned an automatic berth into the 46-team NCAA field after capturing their 23rd State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament title with a 16-14 win over visiting Geneseo this past Saturday.
The Red Dragons will be making their 24th NCAA appearance (Cortland also competed in five AIAW or USWLA national tournaments from 1979-1984). Last season the Red Dragons won NCAA playoff games versus Transylvania, 18-5, and Rhodes, 23-12, both at Rhodes, before losing to Messiah, 16-12, in the NCAA third round in Maine 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.
Cortland has won 14 straight games this spring after opening the season with a 1-4 record. Three of those losses were against NCAA qualifiers Ithaca, Messiah and Salisbury.
Western Connecticut earned an NCAA automatic bid after defeating Plymouth State, 17-4, in the Little East tournament championship game. Roger Williams, which has won 16 straight games after a season-opening loss to Springfield, punched its NCAA ticket with a 12-7 win over Endicott in the finals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference playoffs.
Cortland and Western Connecticut St. played in Cortland on March 25 in the first-ever meeting between the schools. The Red Dragons won that contest, 17-8. Cortland and Roger Williams have played once previously, with Cortland defeating the Hawks, 18-6, on a neutral field at Springfield College in 2018.
