SUNYAC MEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
SEMIFINALS: #4 PLATTSBURGH CARDINALS AT #1 CORTLAND RED DRAGONS
Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026 – 2:00 p.m.
Grady Field – Cortland, NY

FOLLOW ALONG…

LIVE STATS
VIDEO 
PROGRAM (Combined Men's/Women's Semifinals Program)

SEMIFINAL TICKET INFORMATION (LINK TO PURCHASE TICKETS)
-Online Ticketing Only  
-Adults (18+) - $6 ($5 + $1 service fee)
-Youth (Ages 5-17) - $4 ($3 + $1 service fee)
-SUNYAC students with ID are free

SEMIFINAL MATCHUP… The top-seeded Red Dragons begin their SUNYAC title defense with a semifinal matchup against fourth-seeded Plattsburgh on Wednesday afternoon on Grady Field in Cortland.  
 
Cortland clinched the SUNYAC regular-season title and the number one seed in the SUNYAC tournament with a 34-8 road victory at Morrisville last Wednesday. As the top seed, Cortland earned the right to host a semifinal on Wednesday, as well as a potential championship game on Saturday.
 
Cortland and Plattsburgh will be meeting for the 31st time since 2000, with the Red Dragons winning 29 of the previous 30 matchups, including eight straight victories since 2017.  
 
The sides have also met in the SUNYAC tournament five times since 2013, with Cortland winning four of the previous five meetings. All of the previous five conference tournament matchups of the teams were hosted by Cortland and all were in the championship game, with the Red Dragons winning 22-12 in 2018, 14-12 in 2015, 11-10 in 2014, and 9-2 in 2013. The Cardinals earned a 10-6 victory over Cortland in the championship game of 2017 for their first conference championship. 
 
Cortland is looking for its 30th conference title all-time, and hoping to claim back-to-back SUNYAC titles for the first time since 2021-22. Cortland has won conference titles in 5-of-7 seasons under head coach Lelan Rogers, in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005 during his first stint with the Red Dragons, as well as in 2025. 
 
Under second-year head coach Zach Nedbalski, Plattsburgh is making its first SUNYAC tournament appearance since 2019. Nedbalski took over a Plattsburgh team that had a combined 1-20 conference record in three seasons from 2022-24 prior to his appointment as head coach. The Cardinals won two conference games in Nedbalski's first season, and had four victories during this year's SUNYAC regular season.  
 
Plattsburgh is in search of its second conference title, having only previously won the SUNYAC championship in 2017. 
 
THE PATH FORWARD… The winner of Wednesday's semifinal between Plattsburgh and Cortland will advance to face the winner of the other semifinal that features third-seeded Potsdam traveling to second-seeded Oneonta for a 3 p.m. start time. If Cortland advances to the finals, the championship game would be played on Grady Field on Saturday, May 2, with a game time still to be determined.
 
Oneonta earned the right to host the other semifinal with a 6-1 conference record and its only SUNYAC loss coming to Cortland, 20-7 in Oneonta. Oneonta is in search of a first-ever SUNYAC title, reaching the championship game last season before falling by a 19-9 score at Cortland.
 
Potsdam went 5-2 in SUNYAC play to earn the third seed, with its only league losses coming to the top two seeds, a 21-4 defeat at home to Cortland and a 12-11 loss at Oneonta. The Bears are also in search of a first SUNYAC title, and have qualified for the SUNYAC tournament in four of the past six seasons.

The winner of the conference tournament will receive the SUNYAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Div. III playoffs.
 
SUNYAC MEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT BRACKET
 
LAST TIME WE MET… Nick Stoecker (East Setauket/Ward Melville) scored a career-high seven goals to lead Cortland to a 26-3 victory over Plattsburgh Saturday, Apr. 25 on Grady Field in the previous meeting of the two sides under a week ago. Cortland improved to 12-5 (7-0 SUNYAC), with the Red Dragons also completing their third straight season with a perfect league mark. Plattsburgh dropped to 9-5 (4-3 SUNYAC) with the defeat. 
 
Stoecker finished with eight points on the game for the Red Dragons, adding an assist to go with his seven goals. Sean Kavanagh (North Canton, OH/Hoover) and Caden Morra (Farmingdale/Plainedge) each added five points, with Kavanagh scoring four goals to reach 100 career goals and also adding an assist and Morra registering two goals and three assists.James Violi (East Islip) scored two goals and contributed two assists.
 
Four other Red Dragons had multiple points, as Mason Carroll (Clifton Park/Shendehowa), Nathan Nagengast (Bay Shore), Colton Hornquist (Eden), and Stefan Swedlund (Randolph, NJ) all had a goal and an assist. Nicky Miltenberger (Ridge/Longwood) won 12-of-13 faceoffs, had six ground balls, and also scored a goal. 
 
Charlie Falowski (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) made seven saves and allowed just two goals in three quarters of action. James Sullivan (Rockville Centre/South Side) and AJ Surian (Bay Shore) each finished with three caused turnovers and an assist for the Red Dragons. 
 
Jamie Gipe scored two goals for the Cardinals, while Connor Wiggins also added a tally. Kevin Murray finished with two caused turnovers and five ground balls, while Fynn Whitlock had two caused turnovers and three ground balls. 
 
The Red Dragons jumped out to a 9-0 lead after one quarter of action. Stoecker scored three times during the period for the Red Dragons, and Kavanagh, Carroll, Morra, Miltenberger, Violi, and Nagengast each added one tally of their own.
 
Cortland continued its offensive onslaught in the second quarter with three early goals to extend the lead to 12-0 with 9:30 remaining in the half. Swedlund tallied his team-leading 52nd goal of the season, and Eli Volk (Alamo, CA/San Ramon Valley) and Stoecker each scored goals just seven seconds apart after a faceoff win by Miltenberger. 
 
Gipe finally got Plattsburgh on the board with under seven minutes left in the half, but Cortland responded with goals by Kavanagh, Patrick O'Doherty (Lynbrook), and James Devine (Haverstraw/North Rockland) to build the lead up to 15-1. Gipe tallied a goal in the final minute of the second quarter, but Cortland held a commanding 15-2 edge into halftime.
 
The Red Dragons outscored the Cardinals by a 7-0 margin in the third quarter, with Stoecker scoring three more times, Kavanagh adding two goals, and Violi and Morra also netting goals in the frame. 
 
Four Cortland players scored their first goals of the game in the fourth quarter, before Wiggins finished off the scoring in the contest for Plattsburgh with 5:56 remaining. All four of the Red Dragons' goals in the final frame were assisted, as Sean Olvany (Canandaigua/Canandaigua Academy) scored off an assist from Hornquist, Drew Williamee(Canandaigua/Canandaigua Academy) was set up for a goal by Jimmy Addonizio (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius), Jacob Miller (Binghamton/Blue Ridge) scored off a feed from Nate Marinaro (Binghamton/Chenango Valley), and Hornquist scored after an assist from Bubba Baumeister (Yorktown Heights/Lakeland).
 
Prior to the contest, Cortland honored its 10 graduating seniors for Senior Day – Violi, Nagengast, Tucker Macknik (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker), Colin Doyle (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker), Stoecker, Addonizio, Dino Bowen (Yorktown), Daniel Delaney (Albany), Michael Avgenikos (Cazenovia/Morrisville-Eaton), and Surian. 
 
THE CORTLAND CAPSULE… Cortland enters the conference tournament riding an eight-game winning streak and with a 12-5 overall record for the season, winning the SUNYAC regular-season title with a 7-0 record for the third consecutive year. 
 
Entering the season ranked 16th nationally by the USILA, Cortland started the season strong with a dominant performance in a 17-10 upset victory at nationally eighth-ranked RPI. However, the Red Dragons suffered a pair of one-goal losses, at #11 St. Lawrence and at home to Skidmore, over their next three games, before rebounding with two excellent performances in home blowouts over Nazareth and Scranton to move to 4-2. 
 
Cortland suffered its roughest stretch of the season with three consecutive defeats, including losses at #12 St. Lawrence and at #7 RIT to dip below .500 on the year. The Red Dragons righted the ship in the homestretch with eight straight wins, all seven wins in conference play by at least 13 goals and also a 16-5 beatdown of #18 Ithaca in their final non-conference game of the regular season.  

As a team, Cortland leads the nation with 19.06 goals per game and 515 total points, scoring 324 goals and adding 191 assists. The Red Dragons have scored at least 10 goals in 14-of-17 games, including tallying  20 or more goals in a game eight times.   

Individually, Cortland is led in scoring by junior Sean Kavanagh, who has 46 goals and 49 assists for 95 points on the season. Senior Nick Stoecker has provided 49 goals and 26 assists for 75 points, while Stefan Swedlund has a team-best 52 goals on the year. 
 
The Red Dragons are also third nationally in ground balls, with 738 for the season. Nicky Miltenberger leads the team with 74 ground balls, while Tucker Macknik has added 66 ground balls. Miltenberger and Chad Bowen (Yorktown) head the Cortland face-off specialists group that is second in the SUNYAC and 18th in the country with a .669 winning percentage. 
 
The defense is headlined by sophomore James Sullivan and senior Dino Bowen. Sullivan and Bowen both have 20 caused turnovers, while Bowen has scooped up 38 ground balls and Sullivan has 31 ground balls. Junior Charlie Falowski has started all 17 games, posting a 57.5% save percentage and a 8.15 goals-against average. 
 
TOP 10 IN THE NATION… Cortland is ranked in the top ten nationally in nine team categories: first in points, scoring offense, and scoring margin, second in points per game, third in ground balls, fourth in assists per game, fifth in assists, and ninth in ground balls per game.  
 
CLOSING IN ON THE RECORD PART ONE… Sean Kavanagh is just seven points away from breaking Cortland's single-season points record of 101 that was set by Ryan Heath in 2008. The junior is also 14th in the country with 5.59 points per game, and has recorded multiple points in 16-of-17 games (He exited his lone game without multiple points due to injury after scoring just two minutes in).
 
CLOSING IN ON THE RECORD PART TWO… Three Red Dragons are within striking distance of breaking Cortland's single-season goals record of 58 that was set by Billy Fuchs in 2008. Stefan Swedlund has 52 goals, while Nick Stoecker has 49 goals and Sean Kavanagh has 46 goals. 
 
START OFF THE OFFENSE… Nicky Miltenberger is second in the SUNYAC, and 17th in the nation, with a .704 faceoff winning percentage. The junior has won 159-of-226 faceoffs, which would be the second-best faceoff percentage in a single season in program history, behind only a .722 win percentage by Chris DeLuca in 2011.
 
SUNYAC WEEKLY WINNERS… Cortland has claimed SUNYAC weekly awards eight times this season from seven different players. Charlie Falowski was selected as the conference's Defensive Athlete of the Week twice, while AJ Surian, Tucker Macknik, and Jack Skarren (Long Beach) were each honored once. On the offensive side, Sean Kavanagh, Stefan Swedlund, and Nick Stoecker were each named the SUNYAC Offensive Athlete of the Week once.  
 
CATCHING UP WITH THE CARDINALS… Plattsburgh comes into Wednesday with a 9-5 record, and earned the fourth seed in the conference tournament with a 4-3 league mark. Each of the Cardinals' three SUNYAC losses have come to the three other teams in the conference tournament, the aforementioned 26-3 loss to Cortland, a 21-5 defeat to Oneonta, and a 14-6 loss to Potsdam. 
 
The Plattsburgh offense averages 11.0 goals per game, which is sixth in the SUNYAC. The majority of the scoring has come from the Cardinals' three-headed attack of Peter Urso, Jamie Gipe, and Dylan Ruland. Urso leads the team with 51 points on 32 goals and 19 assists, while Gipe has 23 goals and 13 assists, and Ruland has recorded 26 goals and eight assists. Gipe also had two of Plattsburgh's three goals against Cortland. 
 
The Cardinals' defense has been crucial to the team success thus far. Plattsburgh allows 11.5 goals per game, but is 7-0 in games allowing fewer than 10 goals. Plattsburgh's defense averages 12.29 caused turnovers per game, a mark that is second in the SUNYAC and ranks 21st in the country. Fynn Whitlock has 33 caused turnovers for the year to lead the team, including two caused turnovers against Cortland on Saturday. 
 
A potential difference maker for Plattsburgh on Wednesday is goalkeeper Cole Orehosky, who had played in 13 games with 12 starts during the year but did not play against Cortland in the previous meeting. Orehosky has a 9-4 record, a 50.2% save percentage, and a 10.18 goals-against average. 

SCHEDULES/RESULTS (click team to access online schedules)…

CORTLAND RED DRAGONS: 12-5 (7-0 SUNYAC) 
 
PLATTSBURGH CARDINALS: 9-5 (4-3 SUNYAC)