By: Aiden Locke
BROCKPORT, NY --- The Brockport Golden Eagles women's lacrosse team couldn't have started SUNYAC play much better. The Fredonia Blue Devils came to town and Brockport took care of business beating them 17-5.
Graduate attacker Cassidy Burnash scored four goals and added five assists for a stunning nine-point effort.
"Generating power in our offense was one of goals and I'm really proud of everything they were able to accomplish today," Brockport head coach Bryana Glasser said.
The first quarter was the closest point the game saw. Burnash opened the scoring up with two unassisted goals to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead at the halfway point of the opening quarter. Moments after the second goal from Burnash, junior attacker Emma Cockerel threw a low bouncer at the net and it snuck through. A minute later sophomore attacker Amanda Evans scored her first of the campaign, finishing a quality chance off a strong feed from junior midfielder Alayna Foos. Both teams scored in the final two minutes as well to continue a back-and-forth opening 15 minutes.
"We were doing a lot better moving the ball offensively," Foos said. "It's about taking your risks but not making it too risky."
The second quarter was dominated by the Golden Eagles. It was an onslaught of offense by Brockport. Burnash scored two, Foos scored two and first year Tristan Davis also scored two. Senior midfielder Julia Quinlan scored her second of the game in the middle of the quarter. Junior attacker Sarah Kilburn scored her first of the game at the start of the quarter. She cut inside and received a perfect pass from Foos and she ripped it in the top left corner to start an eventual 10-0 run for Brockport.
Brockport's offense was attacking in transition getting quick goals, as well as slowing things down and methodically breaking down Fredonia.
"It's really important especially when you're starting out a game to be able to manage it," Glasser said. "We need to make sure we are getting the looks we want, I call them layups, we need to let the ball do the work and settle in. I always say play fast don't rush."
The play of the day that wasn't meant to be was the climax of the first half. Late in the game clock, Foos drove hard towards the goal and a high pass led to an acrobatic attempt and salvaging a goal. She elevated and with one hand threw a bounce shot at the goal. The ball one-hopped bar-down and into the net. Foos' best "Jump Man" impression was waved off by the officials for a crease violation.
The second half was much calmer compared to the fireworks that opened the game up. Davis capped off the ten-goal run for Brockport. She caused a turnover in transition and drove on the net and one-on-one looks against a goaltender typically go Davis' way. She buried an easy look to make it 13-2. Fredonia showed signs of life in the third as they scored two consecutive goals. The Blue Devils offense struggled against the suffocatingly physical Golden Eagles' defense. Two minutes after Fredonia senior midfielder Sydney Buchko made it 13-4 Evans and Kilburn scored two more for Brockport.
"It's a really good way to challenge ourselves," Glasser said. "We need to make sure we're using our athleticism to our advantage, when you get to conference play you need to be able to pull out all the stops."
The fourth quarter opened 15-4 in favor of Brockport. Quinlan scored early in the quarter after cutting inside and a clean pass from Burnash led to another easy Brockport goal. Burnash wouldn't be credited with an assist on that goal but she would on the final Brockport goal. First year attacker Haley Lewkovich took advantage of open space inside and a good feed led to another goal. Fredonia sophomore midfielder Meghan Karalus got the final goal of the game to make it five on the day for the Blue Devils.
Brockport opened SUNYAC play strong and will turn their attention to New Paltz on Friday. Brockport extends the win streak to three games and sits 4-3 on the season after their conference opener.
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