CORTLAND, NY – Five different Red Dragons scored a goal as the nationally 18th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team pulled away with a 5-1 home victory over Potsdam in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest on Saturday afternoon on Holloway Field. Cortland has won four straight contests and moves to 11-2-1 (6-0-0 SUNYAC), while Potsdam drops to 6-7-2 (2-3-1 SUNYAC).
Prior to the contest, Cortland honored its five graduating seniors for Senior Day –
Ned Devendorf (Poughkeepsie/Arlington),
Matteo Kanakaris (Glen Head/North Shore),
Matt Lourenco (Bay Shore/St. Anthony's),
Dylan Pederson (Surrey, England/Reigate), and
Sam LaMendola (Buffalo/Williamsville South).
Diego Rivera (East Meadow/Cairo-Durham) and
Jack Pachla (Grand Island) each finished with a goal and an assist for the Red Dragons, while
Bruno Baez (White Plains/Iona Prep),
Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker), and
Brody Timm (Beacon) added a goal apiece.
Pederson, Kanakaris,
Shay Daly (Elwood/John Glenn),
Aidan Miller (Savannah, GA/Richmond Hill), and
Sebastian Olego (Bedford Corners/Byram Hills) each provided an assist for Cortland.
Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) earned his 11th win of the season in goal, and Lourenco played the final 22:19 of action in goal without allowing a goal and made one save.
Jayson Viola netted Potsdam's lone goal, with assists from Matthew Mapes and Jake Trubia. Goalkeeper James Kelm registered 12 saves in goal for the Bears.
Rivera opened the scoring for the Red Dragons in the 24th minute, taking a pass from Miller at the edge of the 18-yard area on the left, and firing a curling right-footed attempt into the right corner of the goal for his ninth goal of the year.
In the 28th minute, Rivera nearly added his second goal of the game after a cross from the right side in the midfield from Daly, but the ball took an awkward bounce and Kelm was able to collect before Rivera could fire a shot.
Just five minutes later, Daly fired in a nearly identical cross from the same position, and Pachla struck a right-footed volley past Kelm and just inside the right post for the 2-0 Cortland lead. The goal was also Pachla's first collegiate goal.
Rivera found himself in a similar spot as where he scored his opener in the 37th minute, but fizzed a shot just wide of the right post to keep the Red Dragons' lead at two.
Potsdam pulled back to within a goal just before the half. Mapes lofted a high pass from midfield to the edge of Cortland's box, where Trubia knocked a header towards goal and Viola was able to flick a shot over the top of an onrushing Ott for the goal.
Cortland maintained its 2-1 lead into halftime, and had an 8-1 edge in shot attempts in the first half.
The Red Dragons controlled also all of the action in the second half, adding three goals and finishing with a 22-1 edge in shot attempts in the second half.
In the 51st minute, Daly fired a shot from the edge of the box that rung off the crossbar and Olego had his follow-up attempt blocked by a Potsdam defender.
Brant gave Cortland a 3-1 lead in the 64th minute with his fourth goal of the season. LaMendola lofted a pass to Pachla on the edge of the 18-yard area, Pachla touched a pass to Pederson and Pederson flicked a pass behind the Potsdam defense. Brant sprinted to collect the pass, and finished a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Baez scored his second goal of the year only five minutes later, heading a shot at the right post into the bottom right corner after a cross from the left side along the end line by Olego.
Lourenco made his only save of the game in the 74th minute on a shot by Matthew Buglione that was heading towards the bottom left corner to keep the Cortland lead at 4-1.
Timm completed the scoring with exactly three minutes remaining to give Cortland its greatest offensive scoring output of the season with his first goal of the year. Kanakaris delivered a curling left-footed cross from a corner kick, and Timm headed the ball into the right corner. It was also the second year in a row where Timm tallied a goal against Potsdam.
