MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Morrisville State College women's lacrosse team extended their North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) record to 3-0 Wednesday afternoon, holding on for a 13-12 defeat of Route 20 rival Cazenovia College at Christakos in Cazenovia.

With the win, the Mustangs improve to 3-6 overall and remain in a three-way tie for the conference lead.

Senior Shelby Wood (Duanesburg, N.Y.) led Morrisville State with six points on the day, netting five scores including the game winner in the second half, while adding six ground balls, four draw controls and two caused turnovers to the Mustang efforts.

Fellow teammate Hunter Waldau (Central Square, N.Y.) notched three tallies and six ground balls, as Paige Biviano (Cazenovia, N.Y.) buried a pair of scores and assisted another for three points. Three additional teammates contributed to the Mustang scoring in the contest, securing the victory.

Cailin Dunphy (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) posted the win in net, making four stops in 45 minutes of action before being relieved by Kallie George (Tully, N.Y.) who turned away three in the closing 15 minutes of the contest.

Kaitlin Sheppard led Cazenovia with two goals and four assists, while seven additional teammates registered scores on the day.

Abigail Kortz recorded the loss between the pipes, registering 15 saves, including nine in the opening half as Morrisville State held the 43-23 advantage in shots on the day.

Morrisville State didn't take long to register a score on the scoreboard for the day, as just six seconds into the contest Wood controlled the draw and posted the first tally for the early 1-0 Mustang lead.

Cazenovia traded goals with the Mustangs over the ensuing seven minutes, before Morrisville State rattled off four straight, two off the stick of Biviano, for a 6-2 advantage. The Wildcats made it a 4-7 game in favor of the visitors with just under two minutes to go in the opening half, but an unassisted tally by Ally Zlinsky (Oswego, N.Y.) with 33 ticks showing on the clock sent the contest into the break with a 8-4 Mustang lead.

Cazenovia scored three times in the first 10 minutes of the second half to climb within two, but a two goal burst by Wood and Waldau regained the four goal advantage with 14:39 to go for Morrisville State.

Back-to-back tallies by Mackenzie Bresett for Cazenovia within seconds of one another cut Morrisville State's lead to two at the 13:27 mark, but an unassisted tally by Waldau less than 13 seconds later put the Mustangs back ahead by three.

Sheppard notched a tally for the hosts with just under 10 minutes remaining on the clock, cutting the Wildcat deficit to two, but Wood posted her fifth goal of the game minutes later, a score that would hold as the game winner for Morrisville State.

Cazenovia added two final scores down the stretch but fell short as the Mustangs picked up the 13-12 NEAC win.

The Mustangs return to the field Saturday, traveling to Penn State Abington for a 1 p.m. conference tilt.

Morrisville State's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.

In addition to being named to the 2014 President's Higher Community Education Service Honor Roll, the college was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as an institution in the top tier of the Best Regional Colleges list and ranked second among regional colleges nationwide for outperforming its anticipated graduation rate. For more information visit www.morrisville.edu.

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