CORTLAND, NY – Three different Red Dragons scored a goal, and six different players recorded a point, as the nationally 19th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team earned a 3-0 home victory over Alfred State in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Wednesday evening on Holloway Field. Cortland improves to 8-2-1 (3-0-0 SUNYAC), while Alfred State falls to 0-7-3 (0-2-1 SUNYAC).
Diego Rivera (East Meadow/Cairo-Durham),
Dylan Pederson (Surrey, England/Reigate), and
Bruno Baez (White Plains/Iona Prep) each tallied a goal for Cortland.
Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker),
Aidan Miller (Savannah, GA/Richmond Hill), and
Matteo Kanakaris (Glen Head/North Shore) all finished with one assist.
Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) stopped the only shot on target he faced for his eight shutout of the season.
Josh Lewandusky recorded the lone shot on goal for the Pioneers, while Marcus Tittle made eight saves in goal for Alfred State.
Cortland struck for the opening goal in the 10th minute. Rivera collected a pass on the edge of the 18-yard area and executed a give-and-go with Brant, as Rivera's shot found the back of the net for his team-leading sixth goal of the year.
Alfred State registered its only shot on goal in the contest in the 20th minute, as Lewandusky sprinted down the right side and forced Ott into making a strong save at the right post to turn the ball out for a corner kick, which the Cortland defense successfully defended.
In the 22nd minute, Rivera thought he had tallied his second goal of the game off of a cross following a free kick, but the referee disallowed the goal for a handball in the build-up play.
The Red Dragons doubled their advantage in the 36th minute off a corner kick. Miller curled a cross into the center of the box, where Pederson outjumped everyone and directed a header into the top corner of the goal for his second goal of the year.
Cortland maintained the two-goal advantage into halftime, while holding a 12-4 edge in shot attempts and a 7-2 lead in corners in the first half.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Tittle made back-to-back saves to deny Brant of a goal, sprinting out of his goal to block the first shot, and then quickly retreating back into net to save the follow-up attempt at the right post.
Baez tallied his first goal of the season in the 60th minute with a stellar finish into the top left corner of the goal from the edge of the box after taking a drop pass from Kanakaris to make it 3-0.
Just four minutes later,
Iago Lopez (Ithaca) saw his shot strike off of the left post with a chance to extend Cortland's lead to four.
In the 73rd minute,
Christian Napolitano (Massapequa) made a strong defensive play to track back and stop a promising attack for the Pioneers and clear the ball from danger.
The Cortland defense did not allow a shot attempt throughout the second half to secure the three-goal victory.
