Ithaca, NY – The SUNY Canton women's lacrosse team held a 3-2 lead midway through the first quarter and were within two in the third quarter, but ultimately fell 17-9 to No. 23 nationally-ranked Shenandoah University in the NCAA First Round on Saturday afternoon in Ithaca.

Samantha Dayter led the Roos with a game-high six goals, while Olivia Scott made a season-best 17 saves. This marks the Roos fourth NCAA Tournament appearance after winning their fourth NAC championship with a 20-6 win over SUNY Morrisville last weekend.

THE BASICS

• Result: #23 Shenandoah 17, SUNY Canton 9
• Location: Higgins Stadium – Ithaca, NY
• Records: #23 Shenandoah (15-4) | SUNY Canton (13-6)

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams exchanged goals early on with Dayter scoring her 53rd goal of the season to knot things up early on. Canton caged back-to-back tallies from Maddy Caron and Dayter to lead 3-2 midway through the opening quarter.
• The Hornets rattled off three straight goals to open a 5-3 lead before Dayter's third goal of the opening quarter got Canton with 5-4 after 15 minutes of action.
• Dayter's fourth of the game and 56th of the season tied things at five less than two minutes into the second.
• Shenandoah netted five of the next six goals as Lindsey Wunder got in on the scoring action with her 37th of the season. The Hornets took a 10-6 lead into intermission as Olivia Scott made eight first half saves for the Roos.
• Dayter scored twice in the first five minutes out of intermission pulling Canton within 10-8. From there Shenandoah ran off four straight scores to open a 14-8 advantage. Caroline Nappi found the back of the net with 30 seconds left in the quarter as the Hornets led 14-9 heading to the fourth.
• Shenandoah outscored Canton 3-0 in the final quarter for the 17-9 final.  

 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dayter led all players with six goals and added an assist and four draw controls. Caron, Nappi and Wunder added one goal each with Caron picking up three draws. Aayliah White tied game-highs with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Scarlet Ditoro and Wunder also chipped in three ground balls each.
• Ainsley Buckner paced the Hornets with four goals, four assists and eight draw controls, while Kate Vendemia and Amy Bell netted two goals each. Six players had a goal and assist each for Shenandoah.
• Scott finished with a season-high 17 saves in the loss for the Roos. Madison Perry turned aside 12 shots in the win.
• Shenandoah held the advantage in shots on goal (34-21) and draw controls (20-9). The Roos had the upper hand in ground balls, 21-18. Canton was 4-for-8 on free-position shots, while the Hornets were 1-for-5.

WHAT'S NEXT? 
This concludes a successful 2024 season for the Roos.
   

About SUNY Canton
As Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs, SUNY Canton delivers quality hands-on programs in digital design, engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. As SUNY's leader in online education, SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 23 online degree programs. The college placed first in 14 categories in a SUNY-Wide Student Opinion Survey, most notably in career services, tutoring, library resources, and classroom facilities. The SUNY Canton Kangaroos 15 traditional athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level as part of the North Atlantic Conference. SUNY Canton also features varsity esports and cheerleading.