ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta women's lacrosse team held a nine-goal halftime lead to secure an eventual 16-6 win over Plattsburgh on Wednesday afternoon. With the win, Oneonta moves to 9-5 overall and 6-3 in the SUNYAC to secure the fourth seed in the conference playoffs. The Red Dragons will host Fredonia on Friday, April 25, at 11 a.m.
Before the game, Oneonta honored its six seniors, Lindsey Townes (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown), Chelsea Dodenhoff (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip), Megan Hannon (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Nyack), McKenzie Busch (Babylon, NY/Babylon Jr./Sr.), Gisele Sweeney (Mount Vernon, NY/Saint Vincent Ferrer), and Grace Beattie (Windsor, NY/Windsor).
After freshman Emily McIntee (East Islip, NY/East Islip) won the opening draw control, sophomore Angelina Weinert (Levittown, NY/Division Avenue) scored off an assist from Dodenhoff. McIntee followed with a score at 13:36, and then back-to-back goals from freshman Ava Fitzsimons (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River) pushed the Red Dragons ahead 4-0. The Red Dragons shut out the Cardinals in the first, with two goals coming from Townes.
Oneonta continued into the second quarter with McIntee scoring a woman-down goal off a pass from Weinert at 12:41. A goal from Townes made it 8-0 at 11:02. Plattsburgh scored their first goal from Ellie Macdonald at 9:25, but Townes scored a minute later to make it 9-1. A Cardinals' yellow card gave Oneonta a woman-up goal from Townes at 5:41, and the Red Dragons forced a running clock after Fitzsimons found the back of the net at 4:11 to make it 11-1. The Cardinals netted a last-second goal before halftime from Ashley O'Hara to make it 11-2.
O'Hara scored again to start the second half, but Oneonta responded with two quick goals from Dodenhoff and McIntee to push ahead 13-3. McIntee added one more before the fourth to put Oneonta ahead by 11.
Freshman Madison DeAngelis (Hamilton, NY/Hamilton Central) assisted on a goal by McIntee to start the fourth quarter. The Cardinals netted three straight to cut the Oneonta lead to 15-6, but a final goal by Townes with 21 seconds remaining secured the win.
Townes led Oneonta with six goals and added two ground balls and two caused turnovers. McIntee had five goals, one assist, and three draw controls. Fitzsimon had three goals, one assist, and three draw controls. Sweeney led the team with three caused turnovers.
O'Hara and Macdonald each had two goals for the Cardinals.
Junior Margot Haring (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks) made one save in goal, while freshman Ava Berkowitz (Pleasantville, NY/Pleasantville) had six. Aimee Lieman made 21 saves for Plattsburgh.
