Elephantitis: Tufts Unseats Cortland, 10-9
from press release
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Tufts sophomore Kevin McCormick
(Laytonsville, MD/Georgetown Prep) scored with three minutes
remaining in regulation and sophomore goalie Steven Foglietta
(Oceanside) stuffed Cortland senior Brandon Misiszek's (New
Hartford) last-second shot as the nationally sixth-ranked Jumbos
knocked off the defending national champion third-ranked Red
Dragons, 10-9, in the NCAA Div. III Semifinals Sunday afternoon at
the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.
The Red Dragons had their 16-game winning streak come to a close
and finished 17-3 overall. Tufts improved to 19-1 and advances to
the national title game at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore,
Md., versus Salisbury, which defeated Stevenson in overtime in the
second semifinal contest.
Senior Brian Krol (Niskayuna) paced Cortland with three goals.
Senior Tom Burke (Massapequa) led all scorers with five points on
two goals and three assists. Sophomore Greg Wright (Irondequoit)
added two goals and one assist, while junior Jay DiStefano
(Huntington/Harborfields) and sophomore Mike Tota (Webster/Webster
Schroder) each contributed a goal.
Junior Chris DeLuca (Sayville) recorded 11 ground balls, and junior
Justin Schneidman (Katonah/John Jay-Cross River) had three caused
turnovers. Freshman goalie Mike Kaminski (Sayville) turned aside
seven shots.
McCormick and sophomore Sean Kerwan (Boonton Township, NJ/Mountain
Lakes) each finished with three goals for the Jumbos. Junior Matt
Witko (Chappaqua/Horace Greeley) scored twice, junior D.J. Hessler
(Monkton, MD/St. Paul's) contributed one goal and two assists,
junior Alec Bialosky (Moreland Hills, OH/Hawken School) had one
goal and one assist and junior Ryan Molloy (Setauket/Ward Melville)
handed out two assists. Foglietta finished with 16 saves, and
sophomore Nick Rhoads (McLean, VA/Landon) won 13-of-23 faceoffs and
collected a game-high 12 ground balls.
Cortland appeared to take control of the game early on, grabbing a
3-1 lead after the first quarter on goals from Krol, Tota and
Wright and stretching the advantage to 6-2 at the six minute, two
second mark of the second quarter as Krol, Burke and DiStefano
found the back of the net. Tufts, however, took some momentum into
the half when Molloy assisted on Witko's man-up goal at the 1:00
mark to make it a 6-3 game.
Krol quickly gave Cortland back a four-goal lead on a man-up goal,
his third score of the game, off Wright's assist just 1:32 into the
third quarter. The Jumbos, however, went on a six-goal run to turn
the tide and take a 9-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. Kirwan
got the rally started with three straight goals at 9:00, 2:44 and
seven seconds of the third. His first score was a man-down goal
just as a Tufts penalty was expiring.
Hessler then tied the game at 7-7 with a goal at 11:51 of the
fourth quarter and assisted on Bialosky's goal 16 seconds later as
the Jumbos earned thier first lead of the game. McCormick upped the
lead to 9-7 with a man-up goal at 10:37. Cortland answered on
Burke's second goal at 7:18 and Wright's score at 3:48, setting up
the final hectic minutes.
Senior Jamie Atkins (Concord, MA/Middlesex) sent a pass to
McCormick from the left side of the cage and McCormick put a
15-yard shot past Kaminski for what proved to be the game winner.
The Red Dragons won the ensuing faceoff but lost possession. After
a successful clear, Tufts turned the ball back over to Cortland
with 1:48 remaining. The Red Dragons then gave the ball back to the
Jumbos at the 1:12 mark. The trading of turnovers continued when
Schneidman forced a Tufts turnover at 1:00, but Cortland lost
possession on its clear attempt on a hard check at midfield by
Tufts senior Doug DiSesa (Wynnewood, PA/Lawrenceville).
Burke then forced another Jumbo turnover with 43 seconds remaining
and the Red Dragons were able to successfully clear the ball.
Cortland squeezed off two shots, one by Misiaszek at 12 seconds and
another by Hayes at nine seconds, setting up Misiaszek's final
attempt at sending the game into overtime. Misiaszek worked the
ball from behind the cage on the right side, moved in on goal but
his point-blank shot from the right side of the crease was denied
by Foglietta's stick and the horn sounded ending Cortland's
four-year run in the NCAA Div. III championship game.
