POTDAM, N.Y. – Senior Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) recorded career highs of seven goals and nine points as the nationally second-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team defeated Potsdam, 16-8, Saturday afternoon in SUNYAC action. With the win, the Red Dragons improved to 16-0 overall and 6-0 in the conference and completed their first-ever undefeated regular season. The Bears fell to 5-8 and 1-5 with the loss.

Senior Greg Wright (Irondequoit/West Irondequoit) scored six points on three goals and three assists for Cortland, and sophomores Cody Consul (Webster/Webster Schroeder) and Joe Slavik (Binghamton/Seton Catholic) each added one goal and one assist. Junior Brandon Mulholland (Levittown/MacArthur) and freshmen Mike Cantelli (Holmdel, NJ), Matt Rakoczy (Clifton Park/Albany Academy) and Luke McNaney (Marcellus) netted one goal apiece with McNaney's score being the first of his career. Sophomores Mike Warner (Geneva) and Brian Winterfeldt (Merrick/Calhoun) each chipped in with one assist.

Junior Mike Kaminski (Sayville) started in goal, stopping two shots and allowing two goals in the first half. Senior Kyle Gaebel (Deferiet/Carthage) played the second half and registered four saves. Freshman Joey Palo (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) won 12-of-18 faceoffs and collected a team-high five ground balls, while sophomores Doug Meehan (Sayville) and Nick Costabile (New Fairfield, CT) scooped up four ground balls apiece.

Rob Kunz led Potsdam with two goals and one assist. Peter Pike scored twice, and Pat Morrill, Kyle Nicholas, Matt Donovan and Dylan DiFante each recorded a goal. Jared Flath had two assists, and Dave Kunz chipped in with one. Mike Quinlan made eight saves in the first half before giving way to Stephan Sloma, who stopped nine shots over the final 30 minutes. Brady Fremont paced the Bears with five ground balls.

Cortland wasted little time in taking control of the game, building a 5-0 lead before the midway point of the first quarter as five different players found the back of the net. Morrill made it a 5-1 game at the two minute, 48 second mark of the opening quarter before Tota tallied his second of the game at 1:04 to give Cortland a 6-1 lead. Pike scored Potsdam's second goal just five seconds into the second quarter, but it was all Red Dragons from that point until halftime. Cortland closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a commanding 13-2 lead at intermission. Tota scored five times and Wright and Cantelli each netted a goal during the streak.

The Bears rallied to make the game a little tighter in the second half. Potsdam outscored Cortland 3-1 in the third quarter and trailed 14-5 heading into the final stanza as Pike, Kunz and Nicholas scored. Wright contribured Cortland's lone goal in the quarter. The Bears then netted the first three goals of the fourth quarter, one each from Kunz, Donovan and DiFante, but still trailed, 14-8, with 4:55 remaining. Mulholland quelled any Potsdam momentum when he scored 16 seconds after DiFante's goal and McNaney completed the scoring with an unassisted effort with 35 ticks left on the clock.

Cortland returns to action on Wednesday, May 2, when it hosts either Brockport or Oneonta in the SUNYAC Tournament semifinals at 4 p.m.  

Cortland 16, Potsdam 8

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                                                      1-2-3-4    Final
Cortland (16-0, 6-0 SUNYAC)            6-7-1-2      16
Potsdam (5-8, 1-5 SUNYAC)              1-1-3-3        8

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Mike Tota 7-2, Greg Wright 3-3, Cody Consul 1-1, Joe Slavik 1-1, Brandon Mulholland 1-0, Mike Cantelli 1-0, Luke McNaney 1-0, Matt Rakoczy 1-0, Mike Warner 0-1, Brian Winterfeldt 0-1
Potsdam: Rob Kunz 2-1, Peter Pike 2-0, Pat Morrill 1-0, Kyle Nicholas 1-0, Matt Donovan 1-0, Dylan DiFante 1-0, Jared Flath 0-2, Dave Kunz 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Mike Kaminski, 2 saves (2 GA in 30:00), Kyle Gaebel, 4 saves (6 GA in 30:00)
Potsdam: Mike Quinlan, 8 saves (13 GA in 30:00), Stephan Sloma, 9 saves (3 GA in 30:00)

Shots: Cortland 46, Potsdam 27  
Ground Balls: Cortland 38, Potsdam 25
Turnovers: Potsdam 22, Cortland 13
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 8, Potsdam 6
Clears: Cortland 18-of-20, Potsdam 17-of-26 
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 16, Potsdam 12
Penalties: Cortland 5-4:30, Potsdam 4-4:00
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 3-4, Potsdam 2-4