SUNY Cortland Athletics

CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior Adam Hyde (West Seneca/West Seneca East) scored with 39 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the nationally second-ranked Cortland men’s lacrosse team to an 11-10 win versus eighth-ranked Middlebury in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons improved to 17-1 with their 13th straight win and advance to the national semifinals where they will host Ithaca College either Saturday, May 17 or Sunday, May 18. The Panthers closed their season at 13-3 with the loss.

Hyde finished the game with a pair of goals, while sophomore Brandon Misiaszek (New Hartford) led Cortland with three goals and two assists. Senior Josh Cittadino (Baldwin) had two goals and an assist, junior Joey Morgan (Putnam Valley) scored twice and seniors Ryan Heath (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) and Kyle Simensky (Locust Valley) each contributed a goal. Heath’s score gives him 95 points (51 goals, 44 assists) on the season, tying the single-season record at Cortland. Freshman Chris DeLuca (Sayville) won 10-of-18 faceoffs and junior goalie Mike Robinson (Alexandria, VA/Thomas Edison) stopped 11 shots.

Senior Jim Cabrera (Old Greenwich, CT/Taft) led the Panthers with three goals and two assists. Junior Mike Stone (Boston, MA/Wellesley) recorded two goals and an assist and junior Tom Petty (Newburyport, MA/Phillips Exeter (NH)) scored a pair of goals. Junior goalie Peter Britt (Summit, NJ) made 13 saves.

The largest lead for either team in the game was two goals, which Middlebury held five times in the contest. Cortland led just twice – 10-9 early in the fourth quarter and on Hyde’s game-winner in overtime. Petty and Stone gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead five minutes into the game before Morgan netted his fist to make it 2-1. Middlebury outscored Cortland, 2-1, to finish the quarter with a 4-2 lead.

In the second quarter, Hyde and Cittadino scored 41 seconds apart to pull the Red Dragons even, but the Panthers closed the quarter with two-of-three goals, the last from Petty with 30 seconds on the clock, for a 6-5 lead. The Red Dragons had one goal in each the first and second quarter waved off to crease violations.

Senior Frank Granara (Norwell, MA) scored off a long run to open the scoring in the third quarter, but Cittadino and Misiaszek answered to make it a 7-7 game with three minutes, 49 seconds left in the stanza. The Panthers took the momentum into the final quarter when sophomore Jeff Begin (Ipswich, MA/St. John’s Prep) scored at 15 seconds and DeLuca took a penalty at nine seconds.

Cabrera then netted a man-up goal 20 seconds into the fourth to put the Panthers up 9-7. Cortland responded with a three-goal outburst in 56 seconds to grab its first lead of the game as Misiaszek sandwiched a pair of goals around Simensky’s score. Eleven minutes and 57 seconds still remained on
the clock. Neither team could find the back of the net as the minutes ticked off, and after a Middlebury turnover with just over three minutes left, Cortland tried to maintain possession but eventually turned the ball over at the three-minute mark. On the next possession, Middlebury was whistled for offsides and gave the ball back to Cortland, but the Red Dragons were forced over the end line at 1:33. After a clearing pass to midfield, Stone broke for the goal and tied the game with his 29th goal of the season at 1:16.

The Panthers won the ensuing faceoff and missed a shot well wide left with 11 seconds remaining but kept possession. With the clock winding down, Cortland senior defenseman Nick Bueti (Holbrook/Sachem) stripped Stone of the ball, collected the ground ball and heaved the ball downfield to force overtime.

Cortland won the faceoff to start the extra session, but Britt denied Hyde’s shot at 3:20. After the Panthers cleared the ball, they took a timeout to set up a play for Stone. Stone took possession but fired a shot wide at 2:46. Middlebury kept the ball but eventually turned it over with 1:31 on the clock and the Red Dragons called a timeout. Cortland worked the ball into the box and Misiaszek had it on the right side. He fed a pass to Hyde 20 yards out right in front. Hyde stepped into the shot and beat Britt from 15 yards out with a high bullet into the top corner to send the Red Dragons into the national semifinals for the third straight season.



FINAL SCORE: Cortland 11, Middlebury 10 (OT)

GAME SUMMARY:
Team    1    2    3    4    OT    Final   
Middlebury (13-3)    4    2    2    2    0    10           
Cortland (17-1)    2    3    2    3    1    11

Scoring (Goals-Assists):

Middlebury: Jim Cabrera 3-2, Mike Stone 2-1, Tom Petty 2-0, Frank Granara 1-0, Jeff Begin 1-0, Rory Sanborn 1-0, Matt Virtue 0-1
Cortland: Brandon Misiaszek 3-2, Josh Cittadino 2-1, Adam Hyde 2-0, Joey Morgan 2-0, Ryan Heath 1-0, Kyle Simensky 1-0, Billy Fuchs 0-1, Neal Hopps 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Middlebury: Peter Britt, 13 saves (11 GA in 63:21)
Cortland: Mike Robinson, 11 saves (10 GA in 63:21)

Shots: Cortland 39, Middlebury 37
Ground Balls: Middlebury 35, Cortland 33
Clears: Cortland 14-of-17, Middlebury 17-of-28
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 12, Middlebury 11
Penalties: Cortland 2-1:30, Middlebury 6-3:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 0-6, Middlebury 2-2