THE BASICS:
 
- Score: No. 11 MIT 4, SUNY Cortland 1
 
- Records: No. 11 MIT (16-4); Cortland (14-5)
 
- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Jack Barry Field)
 
- The Lead: Goals by first-year Marissa Liu (Chesterfield, Mo.) and senior Paige Forester (Glencoe, Ill.) in the fourth quarter helped No. 11 MIT secure a 4-1 victory over SUNY Cortland in the first round of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship on Wednesday afternoon. Liu posted two goals while Lily Fox found the back of the cage for the Red Dragons with 1:25 left to play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Cortland produced two penalty corners and three shots, one of which was on goal, during the first seven minutes but MIT got on the scoreboard in the 11^th minute. A shot by senior Liberty Ladd (Falmouth, Maine) was blocked by a defender but Liu corralled the rebound and redirected it to the far post.
 
- Following a scoreless second quarter, the Engineers increased their cushion in the 32^nd minute. On a penalty corner, sophomore Ashley Lederman (Villanova, Pa.) sent a pass into the middle of traffic and it was deflected by sophomore Alice Zehner (Gladwyne, Pa.) high over the goal line between a defender and goalie Emma Morgan. The Red Dragons generated six shots, five on goal, and four penalty corners during the rest of the quarter but they could not break through.
 
- Cortland continued to press during the early stages of the fourth quarter, however, sophomore Avani Narula (Malvern, Pa.) came up with a defensive save on a shot by Jamie Snyder in the 50^th minute. MIT replied with a goal by Liu, who collected a bouncing cross by Ladd from the near side, and tapped it to the top of the cage in the 52^nd minute. Exactly 1:20 later, Forester increased the Engineers' advantage to 4-0 courtesy of a sweeping back hit. Fox ended the shutout when she hit a bouncing ball from the middle of the circle to the far post.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Duncan tallied a career-high seven saves while senior Kiely Smiga-McManus (Etna, N.H.) made two saves during the final 6:07 of the game.
 
- Morgan registered five saves for Cortland.
 
- The Red Dragons ended the night with advantages in shots (19-12), shots on goal (11-9), and penalty corners (13-8).
 
- This was the first meeting between both programs.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will travel to nationally-ranked No. 2 Middlebury College for a second-round game on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 11:00 a.m.
 
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