CNY Showdown: Cortland Hammers RIT
from press release
CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally third-ranked
Cortland men's lacrosse team broke open a close game with seven
consecutive goals over a nine minute, 47 second span in the third
quarter and went on to defeat 14th-ranked RIT, 15-7, Wednesday
afternoon in the NCAA Div. III Quarterfinals at the SUNY Cortland
Stadium Complex.
The Red Dragons improved to 17-2 with their 16th win in a row and
host fifth-ranked Tufts, an 11-9 winner versus Middlebury, in the
national semifinals, Sunday, May 23, at a time to be determined.
The Tigers' concluded their season at 14-6.
Junior Chris DeLuca (Sayville) led Cortland with five goals and 10
ground balls. Junior Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields) became
the fifth Cortland player to surpass 100 career points this season
with two goals and one assist. Senior Brandon Misiaszek (New
Hartford) scored twice, while sophomore Mike Tota (Webster/Webster
Schroeder) added a goal and two assists.
Senior Brian Krol (Niskayuna), juniors Pat Hayes (Mastic/Eastport
South Manor) and Neal Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) and sophomore Greg
Wright (Irondequoit) each recorded a goal and an assist. Sophomore
Jack Kennedy (Camillus/West Genesee) scored once and junior Zack
Mulvaney (Deferiet/Carthage) contributed two assists. Freshman
goalie Mike Kaminski (Sayville) made six saves in running his
record to 17-2 on the season.
Senior Sean Gillies (Oakville, ON/Albany Academy) led the Tigers
with three goals and an assist. Senior David Burke (Fairport) had a
goal and an assist, while juniors Iric Bressler (Stafford, VA/North
Stafford), Adam Vlassis (Syracuse/East Syracuse-Minoa) and Jordan
MacIntosh (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) netted one goal apiece. Five
different players each chipped in with an assist. Junior goalie
Robert Tonnessen (Ridgefield, CT) registered 10 saves.
The game remainied close throughout the first half with the largest
lead being two goals. Bressler gave RIT its only lead of the game
with an unassisted effort at 13:03 of the first quarter. Cortland
went up, 3-1, at the end of the first quarter as DiStefano, Krol
and DeLuca each scored. The teams then traded the next six goals in
the game and Cortland led 6-4 at the half.
DeLuca tallied his third of the game at 13:35 of the third quarter
and Misiaszek pushed the Red Dragons' lead to 8-4 at the 7:37 mark.
Gillies closed the scoring in the quarter at 2:33, and the Tigers
trailed 8-5 heading into the final 15 minutes of play. Gillies
pulled RIT to within 8-6 just six seconds into the fourth after the
Tigers won the faceoff.
The next seven goals, however, belonged to the Red Dragons as
DeLuca started the run with back-to-back goals just over a minute
apart. By the time the scoring binge ended, Cortland led 15-6 with
only 3:11 remaining in the game. Burke concluded the scoring for
RIT with a man-up goal at 40 seconds.
Cortland out shot RIT, 46-29, and held a 41-28 advantage in ground
balls. Faceoffs were nearly even in the game with Cortland winning
14-of-26. The Red Dragons converted 3-of-4 man-up chances, and the
Tigers were 1-for-2.
