Cortland Men Pound Keene State, 18-6
from press release
CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally third-ranked
Cortland men's lacrosse team broke open a close game with a 12-goal
run spanning late in the first quarter into the third quarter and
went on to defeat Keene State, 18-6, Saturday afternoon in the
second round of the NCAA Div. III playoffs at the SUNY Cortland
Stadium Complex.
The Red Dragons, who won their 15th consecutive game, improved to
16-2 on the season and advance to face RIT, an 11-9 winner at
Connecticut College, Wednesday at home in the national
quarterfinals at a time to be announced. The Owls' season ended at
13-6.
Seven different players scored two goals for Cortland. Sophomores
Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) and Greg Wright (Irondequoit)
led the way with two goals and two assists each. Senior Brian Krol
(Niskayuna) and junior Chris DeLuca (Sayville) each added two goals
and an assist, and juniors Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields)
and Pat Hayes (Mastic/Eastport South Manor) and sophomore Eric
Richards (Skaneateles) netted two goals apiece.
Junior Neal Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) contributed a goal and two
assists. Senior Tom Burke (Massapequa) recorded one goal and one
assist and junior Zack Mulvaney (Deferiet/Carthage) and sophomore
Sean Davern (Irondequoit) each scored a goal. Senior Brandon
Misiaszek (New Hartford) registered his 100th career point with an
assist.
DeLuca also won 11-of-13 faceoffs and collected five ground balls.
Freshman goalie Mike Kaminski (Sayville) made eight saves, allowing
five goals in 52 minutes, 48 seconds of action before giving way to
sophomore Kyle Gaebel (Deferiet/Carthage), who stopped one shot and
surrendered one goal over the final 7:12.
Sophomore Matt Schairer (Wrentham, MA/King Phillip) paced the Owls'
offense with three goals and an assist. Freshman Taylor Jette
(Simsbury, CT) contributed two goals and an assist, sophomore
Griffin Meehan (Simsbury, CT) scored a goal, freshman Jonathan
Rodrick (Plaistow, NH/Timberlane) chipped in with two assists and
sophomore James Galloway (Simsbury, CT) recorded one assist.
Freshman goalie Jason Lesser (Brewster) turned aside 12 shots.
After Hayes opened the scoring for Cortland at 11:10 of the first
quarter, Meehan and Schairer netted back-to-back scores to give the
Owls their only lead of the game, 2-1, at the 2:31 mark. Burke
scored with less than a minute remaining in the quarter and the
teams were tied 2-all.
The Red Dragons took control of the game by outscoring the Owls,
6-0, in the second quarter. Tota and DeLuca scored early in the
quarter and Cortland owned a 4-2 lead. With the game still tight,
the Red Dragons went on a scoring binge with four goals in the
final 1:41 of the quarter. DiStefano sandwiched a pair of goals,
the second coming just six seconds before the half, around scores
from Hayes and Krol.
The Red Dragons eventually extended their lead to 13-2 with the
first five goals of the third quarter as five diferent players
found the back of the net. Jette finally ended Keene State's 27:19
scoring drought off Rodrick's assist at 5:12 of the third. Davern,
however, answered just nine seconds later and Tota followed with a
score to push Cortland's lead to 15-3. Schairer closed out the
quarter with goals at 2:56 and 2:50 and Cortland held a 15-5
advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
DeLuca, Wright and Mulvaney each tallied goals to start the fourth
as Cortland's lead grew to 18-5. Jette completed the scoring with
his second of the game at the 4:02 mark.
Cortland out shot Keene State, 48-22, and held a 44-32 advantage in
ground balls. The Red Dragons won 16-of-25 faceoffs and were
successful on 4-of-4 man-up opportunities, while the Owls were
1-for-4.
