ONEONTA, N.Y. -- Fredonia State women's lacrosse closed out its season on the road Saturday, falling 16-10 to Oneonta in the opening round of the SUNYAC playoffs.
To start the game, Oneonta jumped in front early with a flurry of first-quarter goals, scoring the game's first six, including a pair from Emily McIntee and another off a Lindsey Townes to Grace Beattie connection. Fredonia State broke through at the 5:53 mark when
Katie O'Brien finished a feed from
Piper Evangelist to get the Devils on the board. Oneonta added one more before the end of the quarter to take a 7-1 lead.
The Devils found their rhythm in the second quarter, beginning with
Megan Karalus scoring off an assist from
Jenna Slamka. O'Brien followed with an unassisted tally, and after a brief Oneonta response,
Cailin Karalus and
Leah Kunisch each added goals to trim the deficit to 9-5 at halftime.
The third quarter belonged to O'Brien, who took over the game with three straight unassisted goals, cutting the Oneonta lead to just 9-8. After Oneonta answered with three late goals in the period, Fredonia State entered the fourth trailing 12-8. In the final quarter, Oneonta extended its lead with two early goals before
Cailin Karalus scored her second of the game to make it 14-9. Oneonta added two more to push the margin to seven before O'Brien capped the scoring for Fredonia State with a free-position goal in the closing minutes.
O'Brien led all players with six goals on eight shots, accounting for more than half of Fredonia State's offense.
Cailin Karalus added two goals, while
Megan Karalus and Kunisch each contributed one.
Noelle Mendez anchored the Fredonia State defense with four ground balls and three caused turnovers, while
Shaliyah Helmick added three ground balls and a caused turnover. In goal,
Jessica Kowalski made nine saves while facing 25 shots on target.
For the Red Dragons, McIntee paced the offense with five goals, while Townes and Ava Fitzsimons each added five point performances. Goalkeeper Margot Haring earned the win with 10 saves.
The Devils finish their season with a 9-10 overall record and a 5-5 mark in SUNYAC play.
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