BUFFALO, NY – In a close SUNYAC battle, Cortland (4-6-1, 3-1-1 SUNYAC) tallied a late goal and held on despite a strong offensive push by Buffalo State (4-6-2, 1-3-0 SUNYAC) for a 1-0 victory on Friday afternoon at Coyer Field.
The majority of the first half was filled with back-and-forth play. The Red Dragons did manage control towards the end of the half, hitting the cross bar and getting off four shots in the last 10 minutes of play.
Heading into halftime, Cortland held an 8-2 advantage in total shots and a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Buffalo State got the second half started strong. Just five minutes into play, Victoria Colotti (New Windsor, NY/Newburgh Free) got a great pass from Breanna Knight (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream South) into the middle of the box, but her shot sailed just wide of the net.
Gabrianna Boldinski (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) nearly scored off a strong shot from 30 yards out, but the Red Dragon goalkeeper got a piece of the ball, knocking it out-of-bounds. Boldinski followed up with a beautiful header, but it bounced off the post.
The Bengals continued to pressure the Cortland defense, firing off three more shots in just over five minutes. However, the Red Dragons managed to stop all Buffalo State's efforts.
Cortland struck with a goal from Krista Conzo at 73:03.
Buffalo State continued the offensive pressure despite being down. In the final ten minutes, the Bengals had three shots, but still couldn't find the back of the net.
The Bengals ended up with a 12-11 advantage in overall shots, while both teams finished with three corner kicks.
Jessica McCarey (Middletown, NY/Middletown) recorded the loss in goal. The freshman goalkeeper recorded four saves in 90:00.
Buffalo State returns to action on Saturday afternoon at home for another SUNYAC matchup against Oswego at 1 pm.
