FREDONIA, NY –
Diego Rivera (East Meadow/Cairo-Durham) tallied a pair of goals, and the Red Dragon defense posted its third straight shutout, as the nationally 18th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team tallied a 3-0 road win at Fredonia in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play on Wednesday evening. Cortland improves to 10-2-1 (5-0-0 SUNYAC), while Fredonia drops to 5-4-4 (3-2-0 SUNYAC).
Rivera netted his team-leading seventh and eighth goals of the season, and has now tallied four game-winning goals.
Jake Hutter (Smithtown/Smithtown West) also scored a goal, and
Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker) and
Sam LaMendola (Buffalo/Williamsville South) had an assist apiece.
The Cortland defense did not allow a shot on goal for the second consecutive game, and allowed just two shot attempts for the entire contest, allowing
Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) to record his 10th shutout of the season.
Thomas McDonald registered four saves in goal for the Blue Devils.
Fredonia recorded the first shot attempt of the game in the 16th minute, a long-range attempt by Liam Booth that was blocked by the Cortland defense at the edge of the 18-yard area.
The Red Dragons then took three shots on goal over the next five minutes, forcing McDonald into making a trio of saves to keep the game scoreless.
McDonald made his fourth and final save of the contest in the 40th minute to deny Rivera on a shot from distance.
Rivera netted the opening tally in the final seconds of the first half to give Cortland a 1-0 lead into halftime. The graduate student was fouled on the edge of the box with 40 seconds remaining, and the Red Dragons scurried to set up to take the free kick with the clock running down. Rivera stepped up and floated a shot that landed in the top right corner of the net for the goal.
Cortland doubled its lead in the 51st minute through Rivera's second goal of the game. Brant took a corner kick and delivered a cross into the center of the box. LaMendola outjumped a Fredonia defender and flicked a header to the back post, where Rivera was in perfect position to finish a shot into the top corner of the goal.
Fredonia had its second and final shot attempt of the game in the 64th down the left side, but Liam Brown's shot attempt was blocked well by
Chimelu Blandin (Jacksonville, FL/Sandalwood) for the Red Dragons.
Cortland completed the scoring with Hutter's goal in the 78th minute. Brant lifted a high cross from down the left sideline towards the middle of the box that was partially cleared by a Fredonia defender. The ball fell to the feet of Hutter, who struck a first-time shot that found its way through traffic in front of goal and into the bottom left corner of the goal.
