MEDFORD, MA (May 14, 2023) – The No. 5 Tufts University women's lacrosse team opened their NCAA Tournament with a 24-10 victory over No. 22 SUNY Cortland at home on Bello Field Sunday afternoon.
The first seven minutes of the game saw the Red Dragons build a 4-2 lead as Toni Cashman scored twice, with
Caroline Walter and
Margie Carden scoring for the Jumbos. Tufts then scored the next three goals in one minute and 36 seconds with Carden scoring twice and
Emma Joyce adding a free-position goal to give the Jumbos a 5-4 lead. The Jumbo defense held Cortland scoreless over the final 8:04 of the first quarter as goalie
Courtney Kaufman made four big saves including two with less than 30 seconds left.
Allie Zorn gave Tufts a two-goal lead just 31 seconds in the second quarter. After back-and-forth play between the teams,
Genna Gibbons scored a free-position goal and then
Madeline Delaney found the back of the net for an 8-4 Jumbo lead.
Caroline Conaghan, Carden, and Joyce scored the next three to bring the lead up to 11-4. After a Cortland goal, Joyce completed her first-half hat-trick with a free-position goal and then scored her 50th goal to give Tufts a 13-5 lead. Cortland would score again, and Tufts took a 13-6 lead going into halftime.
The third quarter started with Zorn and Carden getting the Jumbo lead to nine. After a Cortland goal, the Jumbos went on a 6-0 run that started with Conaghan and
Caroline Cromwell goals to bring the lead to 17-7. Zorn again scored off the feed from Carden to force a Cortland timeout, and then Carden scored her sixth of the game after
Kathryn Fernandopulle caused a turnover for a 19-7 lead. Cromwell and Carden scored at the end of the third and Tufts lead 21-7 heading to the fourth quarter.
Joyce and
Ella Lesperance scored less than five minutes into the fourth quarter to bring the Jumbo lead to 16. Cortland would add three more goals and
Alexa Amorosino would score for the Jumbos as they were victorious 24-10.
Pascale de Buren came on in relief of Kaufman and made three saves in the final frame.
Carden finished the game with 10 points as she scored seven goals and had three assists. The 10 points were a career-high for her. Joyce added five goals while Zorn scored three times and had an assist for four points.
Conaghan and Cromwell each scored twice with Gibbons and Lespereance having a goal and an assist. Walter, Delaney, and Amorosino all scored as well for Tufts.
Kaufman made eight saves in the contest.
Kate Wujciak had 11 draw controls for Tufts while Joyce added seven. The Jumbos were 13 for 14 in clears during the game along with outshooting the visitors 41-29.
Cashman led Cortland with three goals, and Margaret Morgan made 11 saves on Sunday.
The Jumbos will advance to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round as they will take on No. 7 Wesleyan University for a third time this season.
--JUMBOS--
