WAYNE, N.J. – Junior Anthony Giuliano's (Thornwood/Westlake) 54-yard touchdown pass to senior Eric Hajnos (Grand Island) with 3:17 left in the first half proved to be the game-winning score as Cortland defeated William Paterson University, 12-10, in an NJAC contest. The Red Dragons are now 5-2 both overall and in the league. The Pioneers are 3-4 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
Cortland trailed 10-3 with 1:05 left in the first quarter, but did not allow a point the rest of the game. Sophomore Marc Corrado (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy) made 35-yard and 22-yard field goals and Giuliano threw for the touchdown on his first collegiate pass attempt.
Junior Dom Sair (Huntington) rushed 21 times for 104 yards and graduate student Alex Smith (Niagara Falls/Niagara-Wheatfield) completed 15-of-27 passes for 174 yards. Hajnos made seven catches for 160 yards, the most by a Red Dragon receiver since Brian Babst had 160 receiving yards versus Kean in November of 2001. Senior Wayne Wheeler (Memphis/Jordan-Elbridge) added five catches for 35 yards.
Senior Evan Wyler (Warwick/Warwick Valley) paced the defense with 13 tackles, 10 solo, and junior Will Schroeder (Rockville Centre/Holy Trinity) made seven tackles. Junior Chris Hanlon (Patchogue/Patchogue-Medford) intercepted a pass in the end zone late in the first half to preserve the 12-10 lead. Cortland did not allow the Pioneers into Red Dragon territory the entire second half.
The hosts took a quick 7-0 lead on the game's first play from scrimmage when Matt Marshall connected on a 76-yard touchdown pass to Joel Rivera. Corrado's career-best 35-yard field goal cut the deficit to 7-3 with 5:54 left in the quarter, but the Pioneers answered with a 30-yard Ryan Brzycki field goal to take a 10-3 lead.
Cortland mounted a 14-play, 65-yard drive in the second quarter but settled for a Corrado 22-yard field goal with 5:18 left in the half to trail 10-6. On the first play after a William Paterson punt, Giuliano took the snap in a "wildcat" formation and threw a deep pass to a wide open Hajnos for the go-ahead touchdown. The Red Dragons tried to catch the Pioneers with a two-point conversion pass with the kicking team on the field, but the completion was stopped short of the goal line.
Cortland drove into William Paterson territory on every one of its drives in the second half, but couldn't put any points on the scoreboard. Three of the drives ended on downs inside the Pioneers' 30-yard line.
The hosts started their final drive at their own 20-yard line with 4:05 left and drove to their own 47-yard line, but Wyler stopped McKinney for no gain on 4th-and-1 to give the ball back to the Red Dragons. A 4-yard run by freshman Justin Autera (Mahopac) on 3rd-and-3 from the William Paterson 40-yard line allowed Cortland to run out the clock.
Marshall completed 12-of-23 passes for 166 yards, with seven of the completions going to Rivera for 110 yards. The Red Dragons limited running back Marcus McKinney to 38 yards on 20 carries one week after he rushed for 224 yards in a win over The College of New Jersey. Jim Hamill led all players with 17 tackles.
Cortland will host The College of New Jersey next Saturday at 1 p.m. on C-Club Hall of Fame Weekend in the Red Dragons' final regular-season home game of the year.
Box Score/Play-by-Play