CORTLAND, NY –
Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker) recorded his first collegiate hat trick to lead the nationally 19th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team to a 5-0 victory over Morrisville in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play to clinch the SUNYAC West division title on Wednesday evening on Holloway Field.
Cortland improves to 12-2-1 (7-0-0 SUNYAC) with its fifth consecutive victory. The Red Dragons secured a top-two seed in the upcoming SUNYAC tournament and will host a SUNYAC Semifinal on Wednesday, November 4. Cortland can clinch the top seed with a win or tie at Plattsburgh in its SUNYAC finale on Saturday. Morrisville drops to 2-10-2 (0-5-2 SUNYAC).
Brant's three goals give him eight on the season, and came on just four shot attempts.
Diego Rivera (East Meadow/Cairo-Durham) added a goal and an assist, and
Dylan Pederson (Surrey, England/Reigate) also scored for Cortland.
Jack Pachla (Grand Island) provided two assists, while
Christian Napolitano (Massapequa),
Gabe Garcia (Haverstraw/North Rockland), and
Jake Hutter (Smithtown/Smithtown West) each had one assist.
Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) made three saves in goal for the shutout victory.
Jonathan Tolpa finished with seven saves for Morrisville.
Brant opened the scoring in the fifth minute for the Red Dragons. Garcia took a pass down the left side and dribbled around a Morrisville defender towards the end line, before sliding a pass back to the middle of the 18-yard area. Brant collected the pass and then fired a shot into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Morrisville had a pair of opportunities to equalize in the 10th and 11th minutes, but Ott came up with two strong saves. The first save was a sliding save stop a shot by Eamon Griffin, and then Ott made a diving save on a shot by Aaron Chapman that was heading towards the bottom right corner of the goal.
Brant added his second goal of the game in the 15th minute to extend the Red Dragons' lead to 2-0. Pachla delivered a cross on a corner kick to the left post, where Napolitano headed the ball back to the middle and Brant redirected a shot into the back of the net. The assist for Napolitano was also his first point as a Red Dragon.
Cortland made it 3-0 in the 35th minute on Rivera's team-leading 10th goal of the season. Hutter sent a pass from the midfield to Rivera, who cut to the left and unleashed a left-footed shot from just inside the box into the bottom right corner of the net.
Cortland maintained its three-goal advantage into halftime, with the Red Dragons holding a 12-2 edge in shots in the half.
Pederson's fifth goal of the season just three minutes into the second half gave Cortland a 4-0 lead. Rivera delivered a cross from a corner kick to the left post, where Pederson outjumped a pair of defenders and directed a header into the bottom right corner.
Brant completed his hat trick in the 55th minute with a stellar goal. Pachla slipped a pass to Brant just inside the box on the right side, and Brant curled a left-footed effort into the top left corner of the goal to finish the scoring in the contest.
The Cortland defense continued to keep Morrisville at bay over the remainder of the game, allowing just one shot on goal in the second half. Ott was called into duty to make a comfortable save on a shot from distance in the 73rd minute for his final save to secure his 11th shutout of the year.
