ITHACA, N.Y. -- Massachusetts opened the game with four straight goals and used a number of late defensive stops to make the lead hold up for a 7-6 win over eighth-seeded Cornell on Sunday afternoon in the 2016 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament second round at Schoellkopf Field. The Minutewomen (20-1) advance to the NCAA quarterfinals next weekend where they will play top-seeded Maryland. The Big Red's season came to a close with a 14-5 record.

UMass flashed its offense with four straight goals to open the game over a nine-minute stretch, but it was the second-half effort of goalkeeper Aileen Kelly that made the difference. Kelly made six second-half saves, all coming after the Big Red got within a goal at 7-6 with 23:35 remaining. Cornell's Renee Poullott matched her save-for-save and made eight stops on the night in total, but the Big Red never caught up after falling behind by four goals three different times in the first half.

Besides Poullott, who kept Cornell in the game with two ground balls and a caused turnover to go with her eight saves, junior Catie Smith had two of the Big Red's seven caused turnovers on the defensive end. Taylor Reed had two goals and an assist and Catherine Ellis scored twice to lead the offense.

Erika Eipp and Eileen McDonald each had two goals and an assist to lead the Minutewomen, while Hannah Murphy scored twice. UMass won all four second half draws to win the category, 8-7, with Kate Farnham and Murphy each winning three.

UMass controlled the first nine minutes of the contest to take a 4-0 lead behind a pair of Eipp goals, a free-position score from McDonald and a McDonald helper on a Callie Santos goal. That 4-0 lead would never be erased, though the Big Red would have numerous chances in the game's final 23 minutes to even the contest. Each time, Kelly was up for the task.

Cornell's best chance was also its last, as all-region midfielder Joey Coffy got off a tough jump shot with five minutes to play after beating her defender, but Kelly saved it over the goal and it was eventually won by the keeper outside the crease. The Big Red never got a chance in the offensive zone the rest of the way.

The Big Red had the better of the play over the final 40 minutes, though several long Massachusetts' possessions allowed the Minutewomen to stay in the lead. After scoring six times in the first 19:51, it tallied just once in the final 40:09. Cornell was able to narrow the gap thanks to Ellis, who netted consecutive goals in the first, and Reed, who scored the final goal of the first half and ultimately the last goal of the game.

Trailing 4-0 in the first half, Cornell momentarily stopped the bleeding when Ellis took a quick feed from Emily Tripodi off a restart and cashed in to make it 4-1. The Big Red did plenty to get back in the contest after trailing 6-2 late in the first. The home team scored the final two goals of the first to go into the break down 6-4. After UMass opened the second half with a goal 87 seconds in, the Big Red scored twice in less than three minutes to get within 7-6, the closest it had been since 1-0.

Poullott was outstanding in the second half in her own right, making five saves and causing a turnover after allowing the first goal . Her play allowed Cornell to give itself a shot late.

After winning its first Ivy League Tournament championship, the Big Red finished with 14 wins (second in program history) and its third NCAA win in program history with Friday's 15-11 triumph over Canisius. The loss was Cornell's first at home in NCAA tournament action (3-1).

The game served as the final contest for Cornell's eight seniors. Among them, Emily Tripodi had an assist to extend her school record total to 115, while her 161 points ranks eighth all-time in Big Red history. Maddie Kiep also won a draw, giving her 93 for her career (ninth all-time at Cornell).

POST-GAME NOTES

• Coffy finished the season on a 14-game goal streak, having been held off the scoresheet just twice all year.
• The Big Red finished the season with six players with over 30 points.
• With eight saves, Poullott tied for third in single-game saves in Cornell NCAA Tournament history. With her 13 saves through the first two rounds, she is now second in single postseason saves and career postseason saves.
• With Reed's two points Sunday and four points Friday, she tied for third in program history in single postseason points and career postseason points.

POST-GAME QUOTES
CORNELL HEAD COACH JENNY GRAAP
Opening statement...
"Tough one. I was really proud of our second-half effort. I think we came back really well. We played a much cleaner 30 minutes in the second half. I think their goalie came up really big against us. We had some really nice looks at the net but she was able to make some saves. The end of the game, obviously UMass was able to bring the ball back and stall in our offensive end, and we did what we could to try to get more defensive-minded personnel on the field as quickly as we could to scramble to get the ball back. But wow, those last few minutes just seemed to tick off so quickly. Definitely think UMass went hard and certainly they had a great start to the game, so I think Cornell was on our heels trying to get back in it. I think we were back in it, we just didn't quite get over that hump to tie it up in the second half."

Reflecting on the season...
"For the eight seniors to have this final season is really very storybook. It's great, but they've been working for it since their freshman year, and these two next to me were on the field a lot their freshman year. What I'm most proud about is that they brought their classmates along. Some players that don't see the field as quickly, especially sophomore and junior year, they can get a little down and disheartened, but with great leadership, we were able to bring that whole senior class along. And every one of the eight women contributed to the success of 2016, and I think that really speaks volumes. They wanted it for each other more than themselves, and some of them had to sacrifice a lot. ... And that's, for me as a coach, what I'm really proud of is that they cared so much and they really invested and they were really selfless in taking care of their teammates."

SENIOR CAPTAIN BRITTANY MARRIOTT
On Cornell's second-half defense...
"We really talked about during the timeouts and during halftime not to get on our heels and not get lulled by them just passing the ball around and holding possession, and I think we did an amazing job in the second half putting ourselves in the driver's seat and making their attack react to us. I was really proud of the defensive effort with Renee [Poullott] and the entire defense. We got a lot of turnovers and we really worked hard and made UMass scared I think in the second half."

On adjustments at halftime...
"We talked about at halftime getting angry. We talked about that we're a championship team, we won the Ivy Tournament and we were seeded No. 8 going into this, and we need to play like it. We need to play with confidence. We can't play and let UMass dictate it. We should be dictating what they're doing. I think once we got that mentality – I mean we should've had it from the start of the game; it was disappointing that we didn't – but once we got that, we really clawed back."

Reflecting on the season...
"It was absolutely incredible. We kept saying each year as we would go up through the classes, "There's no way this team can get closer, there's no way." And we just did this year, and it was absolutely incredible to share everything that we've shared with the team this year. I think that's what we're going to miss the most. What's so sad for me today is not that I'm done playing lacrosse, it's that I'm done spending so much time with this group of people and being with this group of people all the time."

SENIOR CAPTAIN EMILY TRIPODI
Reflecting on the season...
"For myself, it's been rewarding season that I think I've ever played in. An excellent group of girls. I think I speak for Brittany and myself when I say it was such a privilege to lead them this year. They made us so proud in so many moments, including today. It was a season that I'll remember forever."


 
UMASS HEAD COACH ANGELA MCMAHON
Opening statement...
"I thought it was a fantastic game. Really exciting game. I thought both teams really battled out there, and a huge credit to Cornell. They had a great season. They really tested us all throughout the game. Just really happy to be able to come away with the win and maintain possession at the end there."

On Cornell's defense in the second half...
"We were struggling to get the looks that we wanted to. They were going in and out of different defenses, sometimes going into face-guard, sometimes going into zone. So we were just working to find our rhythm. I also thought that sometimes we did get some really good shots off and their goalie some really huge saves, so she really stepped up and kept them in the game when we probably had a couple wide open looks that we could've finished."