SCORE: UAlbany 3, Cornell 2 (Shootouts: 3-1)
 
LOCATION: Alumni Turf - Albany, N.Y.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 3-1, 0-0 America East | Cornell 0-2, 0-0 Ivy League
 
SHORT STORY: In a competitive game, the Great Danes held on to defeat Cornell in the first round of shootouts, Sunday afternoon.
 
COACH PHIL SYKES: "I'm very proud of our team. Cornell is always a very good team. They had a breakout season last year and they are always very skilled and well-coached. I was happy our players battled. [Cornell] had a couple of chances late where I thought, 'Are we going to survive this?' I was very glad at how we approached adversity. And to get a win against a quality opponent early in the season is always good."
 
KEY STATS

• Alison Smisom led with a career-high three defensive saves. The senior also scored one goal with the addition of the game-winning shootout.
• Junior Makenna Lowe notched her first collegiate goal.
• Freshman Lotje Ligthart, sophomore Mara Küskes, and graduate Charlotte Triggs each added an assist.
• Senior goalie Lara Behn tallied four saves against the Big Red.
• As a team, Cornell outshot UAlbany, 14-13, but the Great Danes held the advantage in shots on goal (10-8) and penalty corners (9-8).

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Late into what proved to be a scoreless first quarter, Alison Smisdom halted a Big Red scoring attempt with the first of her three defensive saves of the afternoon.
• The Big Red was the first on the board with a score just two minutes into the second quarter.
• UAlbany's penalty corner unit tied the score at one about three minutes later.
• Assisted by Charlotte Triggs (stick stop) and Mara Küskes (insert), Smisdom dumped the ball straight into the goal for the game-tying score.
• Makenna Lowe scored the go-ahead goal for the Great Danes in the final minute of the third quarter.
• Taking advantage of a loose ball from a Cornell penalty corner, Lotje Ligthart passed the ball to give Lowe the opportunity for a goal.
• Less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Big Red tied the game at two.
• With neither team able to score for the remainder of regulation, the game went into overtime.
• Senior Blanca Orsola made two shots in the first overtime period.
• The Cornell offense earned two penalty corners in the second overtime period but the combined efforts of Lara Behn and Smisdom saved two balls from going into the net.
• Senior Floor de Ruiter and Orsola scored in the first two shootouts for UAlbany. Lara Behn stopped both of Cornell's first two attempts, including when the first resulted in a penalty stroke.
• The Big Red's Olivia Friedberg put a goal on the board for her team followed by Smisdom's successful shootout attempt.
• As Cornell's athlete missed the fourth shootout, the Great Danes won without having to put up all five athletes.
• The 3-2 final score is the same result as the 2023 game in Ithaca. UAlbany won the 2023 shootout round 4-3 whereas this year they won 3-1.

 
NEXT: The Great Danes will get ready for a split weekend in which they face top-10 Harvard (Sept. 13) and Drexel (Sept. 15).
 
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