MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- Cortland State outscored Middlebury 8-2 in the final 22 minutes and the nationally second-ranked Red Dragons remained unbeaten with a 12-10 win versus the fifth-ranked Panthers. Cortland is now 11-0 on the season, while Middlebury drops to 9-2.
Freshman Kristen Ohberg led Cortland with a career-high four goals. Junior Emma Hayes-Hurley recorded two goals and an assist and sophomore Tara Monaghan scored twice.
Sophomore Erica Geremia finished with a goal and three assists and in two seasons has career totals of 90 goals and 111 assists for 201 points. She is the first Cortland sophomore, and the 12th Red Dragon overall, to reach the career 200-point mark.
Also for the Red Dragons, junior Marilyn Farrell registered a goal and two assists, while senior Taylor Reh and sophomore Ashley Gentile scored once apiece. Sophomore Liz Ingalls made six saves, all in the first half.
Katie Ritter led the Panthers with two goals and two assists. Chrissy Ritter, Laurel Pascal and Bridget Instrum tallied two goals each. Alyssa Palomba made four saves.
Cortland's defensive pressure and strong ride helped fuel the comeback. The Red Dragons caused 13 of Middlebury's 21 turnovers, led by three caused turnovers by Hayes-Hurley and two each by Ohberg, Geremia and senior Jessica Lavelle.
Middlebury led 5-4 at halftime after a goal by Chrissy Ritter with 37 seconds left. The Panthers struck for three goals in the first eight minutes of the second half -- scores by Katie Ritter, Instrum and Mary O'Connell -- and held an 8-4 advantage with 22:28 left.
Cortland regrouped after a timeout and scored three goals in just more than a 6-minute span to pull within one. Ohberg scored twice and Farrell had a goal and an assist during that stretch. The hosts took a 9-7 lead on Katie Ritter's man-up goal with 9:27 left, but Cortland scored twice in a 12-second span to knot the game. Monaghan connected off a Hayes-Hurley feed at the 8:42 mark with Cortland up a player. She then won the ensuing draw control and started a fast break that was capped by Geremia feeding Ohberg for the tying goal with 8:30 left. Geremia reached the 200-point plateau with the assist.
The Panthers took their final lead at 10-9 on an Instrum goal with 7:31 left. Ohberg won the next draw and eventually scored with 6:58 left to tie the game. Hayes-Hurley found the net with 5:36 left to give Cortland the lead for good. Middlebury was whistled for a yellow card on the goal, leading to a Cortland possession without a draw, and the Red Dragons capitalized on the man-up opportunity when Gentile scored off a Geremia assist with 4:47 remaining.
Ingalls caused a turnover with 4:01 left and Cortland ran more than two minutes off the clock before losing the ball with 1:50 left. Middlebury, however, was called for a charge with 1:19 remaining. Each team committed one more turnover before the Red Dragons ran out the clock.
