CORTLAND, N.Y. –  The nationally fourth-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team opened up a 9-1 lead at the half and went on to defeat 12th-ranked Geneseo, 17-5, in the SUNYAC Tournament final Saturday afternoon in blustery conditions at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. With the win, their 14th straight, the Red Dragons improved to 15-2 on the season and earned their 10th consecutive NCAA Div. III playoff berth. The Knights fell to 10-4 with the loss and await a possible at-large berth into the playoffs.

Sophomore Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) scored four goals and handed out one assist to lead the Cortland offense. Senior Brian Krol (Niskayuna) scored three times and seniors Tom Burke (Massapequa) and Brandon Misiaszek (New Hartford) and junior Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields) each added two goals and one assist. 

Junior Chris DeLuca (Sayville), the tournament Most Valuable Player, had one goal and three assists, won 15-of-22 faceoffs and collected a game-high 10 ground balls. Junior Neal Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) contributed one goal and one assist, while sophomores Greg Wright (Irondequoit) and Jack Kennedy (Camillus/West Genesee) netted one goal apiece. Junior Justin Schneidman (Katona/John Jay-Cross River) recorded seven ground balls and five caused turnovers. Freshman goalie Mike Kaminski (Sayville) stopped four shots and allowed five goals in 51 minutes, 21 seconds before giving way to freshman Bobby Whitmarsh (Smithtown/Smithtown East), who did not face a shot over the final 8:39.

Junior Craig Lange (Syracuse/CBA) paced Geneseo with three goals. Junior Scott Cost (Warners/West Genesee) registered one goal and one assist, sophomore Brendan Kurpis (Yorktown) scored once and junior Evan Bryant (Amherst/Williamsville North) and sophomore Jeff Watson (Camillus/Marcellus) each chipped in with an assist.

Senior goalie Dennis Costanza (Webster/Webster Schroeder) made 11 saves in 58 minutes, and sophomore Noah Berg (Rochester/Brighton) did not register a save in two minutes of action. Costanza and senior Erik Baranowski (Liverpool) collected six ground balls apiece.

The Red Dragons opened up a 5-0 lead after one quarter as five different players found the back of the net. Kurpis finally put the Knights on the scoreboard at 12:37 of the second quarter on Watson's assist, but Cortland closed the half with four straight goals, again each from a different player, and led 9-1 at the half.

Misiaszek and Krol pushed Cortland's lead to 11-1 early in the third quarter before Cost scored to make it 11-2. Tota then netted back-to-back goals, followed by scores from Lange and Kennedy and the Red Dragons led, 14-3, after three quarters. Cortland outscored the Knights, 3-2, in a penalty-filled fourth quarter with Wright, Krol and DeLuca scoring for the Red Dragons and Lange netting a pair for Geneseo.

Cortland out shot Geneseo, 45-20, in the game and held a 47-33 advantage in ground balls. The Red Dragons won 15-of-26 faceoffs and were successful on 19-of-21 clears, while the Knights converted just 12-of-25.

Joining DeLuca on the all-tournament team were Burke, Kaminski, Krol and Schneidman from Cortland; Cost, Lange and junior Joe May (Homer) from Geneseo; Rashaun Durden and Brogin VanSkoik from Potsdam; and Hugh O'Gorman and Steve Loesch from Oneonta.












(photo by Darl Zehr Photography)


Cortland 17, Geneseo 5

GAME SUMMARY:
Team                                1-2-3-4    Final
Geneseo (10-4)              0-1-2-2          5
Cortland (15-2)               5-4-5-3        17

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Geneseo: Craig Lange 3-0, Scott Cost 1-1, Brendan Kurpis 1-0, Jeff Watson 0-1, Evan Bryant 0-1 
Cortland: Mike Tota 4-1, Brian Krol 3-0, Tom Burke 2-1, Brandon Misiaszek 2-1, Jay DiStefano 2-1, Chris DeLuca 1-2, Neal Hopps 1-1, Greg Wright 1-0, Jack Kennedy 1-0, Pat Hayes 0-1, Zack Mulvaney 0-1 

Goalkeepers:
Geneseo: Dennis Costanza, 11 saves (16 GA in 58:00), Noah Berg, 0 saves (1 GA in 2:00)
Cortland: Mike Kaminski, 4 saves (5 GA in 51:21), Bobby Whitmarsh, 0 save (0 GA in 8:39)

Shots: Cortland 45, Geneseo 20
Ground Balls: Cortland 47, Geneseo 33
Turnovers: Geneseo 31, Cortland 20
Clears: Cortland 19-of-21, Geneseo 12-of-25
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 15, Geneseo 11
Penalties: Cortland 8-8:00, Geneseo 4-3:30
Extra-Man Offense: Geneseo 1-8, Cortland 0-3