CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally fourth-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team held The College at Brockport scoreless for a span of 33 minutes, three seconds stretching from the first to the third quarters and went on to defeat the Golden Eagles, 13-5, in a SUNYAC Semifinal matchup Wednesday afternoon at the Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons improved to 14-2 on the season and will host Potsdam Saturday at 4 p.m. in the conference championship game with an NCAA Div. III berth on the line. The Bears edged Geneseo, 18-17, in the second semifinal at Potsdam.

Freshman Joe Slavik (Binghamton/Seton Catholic) led Cortland with four goals. Senior Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields) had two goals and two assists, while junior Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) also netted a pair of goals. Junior Greg Wright (Irondequoit/West Irondequoit) recorded four points on a goal and three assists. Seniors Chris DeLuca (Sayville) and Neal Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) contributed a goal and an assist each, and senior Eric Martin (Fairport) and junior Eric Richards (Skaneateles) chipped in with one goal apiece. Freshman goalie Scott Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) made three saves to run his record to 10-0 on the season.

Senior Andy Hilton (Rochester/Gates-Chili) paced Brockport (6-8) with two goals. Senior Mike Tammaro Painted Post/Corning West) and freshmen Bryon Palmer (Johnson City) and Brendon Rothfuss (Webster/Webster Thomas) each scored once and junior Nate Thomas (Cortland) collected an assist. Senior goalie Jon Fiorillo (Painted Post/Corning West) stopped 17 shots.

Palmer gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead at 13:21 of the opening quarter. Hopps tied the game up at 12:08, and neither team scored again until DiStefano connected at 1:45 and Wright scored just seven seconds before the end of the first quarter. The Red Dragons then held Brockport scoreless in the second quarter while getting two goals from Slavik and a man-up goal from Tota for a 6-1 lead at the half.

Slavik and DeLuca netted goals early in the third quarter to push Cortland's lead to 8-1 before Hilton ended Brockport's drought with his first of the game at 11:18. Rothfuss then made it an 8-3 game 29 seconds later with the score holding until under the five-minute mark of the quarter. The Red Dragons took control by pouring in four goals from four different players to close out the stanza with a 12-3 lead. Cortland's lead grew to 13-3 on Martin's goal at 9:27 of the fourth, and Tammaro and Hilton completed the scoring with goals at 6:17 and 5:32, respectively, for the 13-5 final.  

Cortland 13, Brockport 5

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                        1-2-3-4        Final
Brockport (6-8)        1-0-2-2          5
Cortland (14-2)       3-3-6-1         13

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Brockport: Andy Hilton 2-0, Mike Tammaro 1-0, Brendon Rothfuss 1-0, Bryon Palmer 1-0, Nate Thomas 0-1 
Cortland: Joe Slavik 4-0, Jay DiStefano 2-2, Mike Tota 2-0, Greg Wright 1-3, Chris DeLuca 1-1, Neal Hopps 1-1, Eric Martin 1-0, Eric Richards 1-0, Zack Mulvaney 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Brockport: Jon Fiorillo, 17 saves (13 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Scott Tota, 3 saves (5 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 57, Brockport 19 
Ground Balls: Cortland 46, Brockport 37 
Turnovers: Brockport 32, Cortland 19
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 12, Brockport 9
Clears: Cortland 21-of-23, Brockport 16-of-30 
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 12, Brockport 10
Penalties: Cortland 3-2:30, Brockport 2-2:00
Extra-Man Offense: Brockport 1-3, Cortland 1-2