OSWEGO, N.Y. –  The nationally fourth-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team broke open a close game at the half by outscoring Oswego, 11-2, over the final two quarters and went on to a 15-3 victory Wednesday afternoon in SUNYAC action at Laker Field. The Red Dragons clinched the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament with the win, improving to 12-2 overall and 5-0 in the league. The Lakers, who entered the game tied for the final playoff spot fell to 6-9 and 1-4 with the loss.

Sophomore Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) highlighted Cortland's offense with four goals and two assists. With the six points, he became the second Red Dragon this season and 42nd in school history to reach 100 career points (79 goals, 23 assists). Senior Brian Krol (Niskayuna), who reached the milestone earlier in the season, contributed three goals and one assist. Senior Tom Burke (Massapequa) notched two goals, junior Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields) handed out three assists and senior Chris Dutkowsky (Vestal) and junior Eric Parah (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) each contributed two assists.

Six players chipped in with one goal apiece for Cortland - senior Brandon Misiaszek (New Hartford), juniors Justin Battino (Plainview), Brian Donahue (Camillus/West Genesee), Matt Evanchak (Syracuse/West Genesee) and Frank Padolecchia (Patchogue/Patchogue-Medford) and sophomore Christian Daly (Syracuse/Jamesville-DeWitt). Battino also won 7-of-12 faceoffs. Freshman goalie Mike Kaminski (Sayville) started in the cage and made six saves, allowing two goals in 45 minutes of action. Freshman Bobby Whitmarsh (Smithtown/Smithtown East) stopped one shot and allowed one goal in the fourth quarter.

Senior Nick Zoyhofski (Hamburg/Frontier) and sophomores Andy Lever (Lindenhurst) and Brad Teal (Williamsville/Williamsville East) scored Oswego's goals. Seniors Dan Scarazzo (Fairport) and Dan Wilcox (Hamburg/Frontier) collected one assist each. Senior Judd Robinson (Guilderland) started in goal and stopped 12 shots with 13 saves in 55:11, before giving way to senior Zach Harris (Fairport), who did not make a save in 4:49.

Tota scored the only goal of the first quarter off a feed feed from Parah at the 10:36 mark. Lever tied the game just 15 seconds into the second quarter, but the Lakers wouldn't score another goal for more than 25 minutes as Cortland built a lead. The Red Dragons closed the first half with three goals, two from Tota and one from Krol, to take a 4-1 advantage into intermission.

Misiaszek made it 5-1 at 11:24 of the third quarter, and Tota recorded his 100th point when he assisted Battino's goal at 10:08. Oswego ended its scoring drought at 4:33 on Zoyhofski's unassisted goal. Cortland, however, finished the quarter with back-to-back goals from Burke just 27 seconds apart and Krol's second goal of the game for a 9-2 lead.

The Red Dragons sealed the game with the first four goals of the fourth quarter to stretch its lead to 13-2 as four different players found the back of the net. Teal stopped the run at the 6:02 mark before Donahue and Evanchak completed the scoring with goals at 3:07 and 1:54, respectively.

Cortland concludes its regular season with a home game versus Oneonta on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will host a SUNYAC tournament semifinal game on Wednesday, May 5, against an opponent to be determined.

Cortland 15, Oswego 3

GAME SUMMARY:
Team                                                      1-2-3-4    Final
Cortland (12-2, 5-0 SUNYAC)            1-3-5-6        15
Oswego (6-9, 1-4 SUNYAC)               0-1-1-1          3

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Mike Tota 4-2, Brian Krol 3-1, Tom Burke 2-0, Brandon Misiaszek 1-0, Christian Daly 1-0, Frank Padolecchia 1-0, Matt Evanchak 1-0, Justin Battino 1-0, Brian Donahue 1-0, Jay DiStefano 0-3, Chris Dutkowsky 0-2, Eric Parah 0-2, Justin Schneidman 0-1, Scotty Mattera 0-1, Jordan Rogers 0-1 
Oswego: Andy Lever 1-0, Nick Zoyhofski 1-0, Brad Teal 1-0, Dan Scarazzo 0-1, Dan Wilcox 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Mike Kaminski, 6 saves (2 GA in 45:00), Bobby Whitmarsh, 1 save (1 GA in 15:00)
Oswego: Judd Robinson, 12 saves (13 GA in 55:11), Zach Harris, 0 saves (2 GA in 4:49)

Shots: Cortland 39, Oswego 24
Ground Balls: Cortland 44, Oswego 28
Turnovers: Oswego 23, Cortland 18
Clears: Cortland 19-of-20, Oswego 4-of-9
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 12, Oswego 9
Penalties: Cortland 5-4:30, Oswego 4-3:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 1-4, Oswego 0-5