Sophomore Mike Tota's goal pulled Cortland to within 7-5 with 1:23 remaining
3/6/2010
MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. – The nationally third-ranked Gettysburg men's lacrosse team built a 7-3 and held off a late rally by top-ranked Cortland to earn a 7-5 win in a rematch of the 2009 Division III national title game. The Red Dragons dropped to 1-1 with the setback, while the Bullets improved to 4-0.
Junior Pat Hayes (Mastic/Eastport South Manor) led Cortland with a pair of goals. Senior Brian Krol (Niskayuna), junior Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields) and sophomore Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) each contributed a goal. Junior Chris DeLuca (Sayville) chipped in with two assists and senior Tom Burke (Massapequa) and sophomore Christian Daly (Syracuse/Jamesville-DeWitt) added one assist apiece. Freshman goalie Mike Kaminski (Sayville) made nine saves.
Joe Brody had two goals and an assist to lead Gettysburg, while Danno Lynch scored twice and Andrew Ryan tallied one goal and one assist. Chris Cahill and Pat Sartory each added a goal. Goalie John LeClerc stopped nine shots.
Brody opened the scoring for the Bullets at 13 minutes, 45 seconds of the opening quarter, but Cortland evened the game just eight seconds later when Burke fed DiStefano. The scored remained 1-1 heading into the second quarter, where Gettysburg netted the only two goals. McGrath assisted on Lynch's goal at 12:28, and Sartory scored at 6:32 as the Bullets took a 3-1 lead into intermission.
Cahill upped the lead to 4-1 with an unassisted goal at 12:59 before Hayes stopped the run off an assist from DeLuca at 12:11 to make it a 4-2 game. Brody pushed the lead to 5-2 with a man-up goal at 6:21, but Hayes closed the scoring in the third with an unassisted tally at 54 seconds and the Bullets led 5-3 heading to the fourth.
Gettysburg appeared to have the game in hand with scores from Lynch and Ryan just 43 seconds apart at 9:56 and 9:13, respectively, to up its advantage to 7-3. Krol started the Cortland comeback attempt with a man-up goal at 2:02, assisted by Daly, and DeLuca fed Tota at 1:23 to make it a 7-5 game. The Red Dragons won the ensuing faceoff, but had a shot denied by LeClerc seconds later. After a Gettysburg turnover, Cortland had another chance to cut the lead to one, but LeClerc again made a save. Gettysburg eventually worked a good clear and ran out the clock to clinch the win.
Gettysburg 7, Cortland 5
GAME SUMMARY:
Team 1-2-3-4 Final
Cortland (1-1) 1-0-2-2 5
Gettysburg (4-0) 1-2-2-2 7
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Pat Hayes 2-0, Jay DiStefano 1-0, Brian Krol 1-0, Mike Tota 1-0, Chris DeLuca 0-2, Tom Burke 0-1, Christian Daly 0-1
Gettysburg: Joe Brody 2-1, Danno Lynch 2-0, Andrew Ryan 1-1, Chris Cahill 1-0, Pat Sartory 1-0, Kyle McGrath 0-1
Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Mike Kaminski, 9 saves (7 GA in 60:00)
Gettysburg: John LeClerc, 9 saves (5 GA in 60:00)
Shots: Gettysburg 36, Cortland 28
Ground Balls: Cortland 29, Gettysburg 25
Turnovers: Gettysburg 19, Cortland 18
Clears: Cortland 16-of-19, Gettysburg 18-of-23
Faceoffs Won: Gettysburg 10, Cortland 6
Penalties: Gettysburg 4-3:30, Cortland 3-1:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 1-4, Gettysburg 1-3