CORTLAND, N.Y. - The top-seeded and nationally 11th-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team jumped out to an 8-0 lead after one quarter of play in earning a 21-5 victory versus fourth-seeded Oneonta in the SUNYAC Semifinals Wednesday afternoon at the Stadium Complex. The host Red Dragons improved to 13-4 on the season and host second-seeded Plattsburgh, a 15-7 winner over third-seeded Potsdam in the second semifinal, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the conference title game.
Senior
Matt Rakoczy (Clifton Park/Albany Academy) and junior
Zach Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) each eclipsed 100 career goals in the game for Cortland. Rakoczy scored three times and became the 23rd player to reach the mark, and Hopps tallied a team-high four goals to become the 24th player to hit the milestone.
A total of 11 different players netted at least one goal overall for Cortland. Senior
Benjamin Dunlavey (Elmira/Corning East) scored three goals, junior
McLaren Brady (DeWitt/Jamesville-DeWitt) and freshmen
Nicky Bonitatibus (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) and
Eddie Eddington (Geneva) each scored twice and freshman
Devin Phelps (Chittenango) recorded a career-high five assists. Senior
Billy Davis (Manhasset) added one goal and one assist, and freshman
Justin Siracusa (Sayville) notched the first goal of his career.
Senior goalie
Scott Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) made two saves and surrendered one goal in the first half. Freshman
Joe Scalise (Fairport) stopped four shots in 18:52, before freshman
Hein Hofvind (Fjellhamar, Norway/Raelingen Vidregaende) registered two saves over the final 11:08 in his first collegiate action. The host Red Dragons won 24-of-29 faceoffs in the game. Junior
Pat Baldwin (Alpharetta, GA) was successful on 12-of-15 attempts and collected nine ground balls. Junior
Gino Prestigiacomo (Rochester/Greece Athena) won 9-of-11 and also recorded nine ground balls.
Sophomore Nathan Doody (Tully) led Oneonta (7-8) with four goals. Senior Anthony Laureano (Holtsville/Sachem East) added a goal, freshman Alec Solomito (Holtsville/Sachem East) recorded three assists and junior Calvin Bollar (Huntington Station/Huntington) chipped in with an assist. Junior goalie Ryan Adler (Smithtown/Smithtown West) turned aside 15 shots through three quarters. Sophomore goalie Zach Reilly (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) made three saves in the fourth quarter.
Cortland wasted little time in taking control of the game, taking a 3-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest with Rakoczy notching his 100th career goal on the third score. The advantage grew to 8-0 at the 6:12 mark of the opening quarter. Hopps opened the second quarter with his 100th career goal and Bonitatibus followed less than two minutes later with his first of the game, and the host Red Dragons led, 10-0. Doody ended Oneonta's 20:03 scoring drought with his first goal before Cortland closed out the half with three scores in a row for a 13-1 lead.
Four different players netted a goal for Cortland in the third quarter, while Solomito assisted on a pair of goals by Doody to make it a 17-3 game heading to the final quarter. Doody tallied his fourth goal of the game before Brady followed with back-to-back goals, and Cortland led 19-4 with 6:09 remaining. Laureano scored unassisted at 4:47, sophomore
James Nielsen (Miller Place) picked up the first goal of his career for Cortland at 3:57, and Siracusa completed the scoring with his first career goal just 12 seconds later after winning a faceoff.
Cortland 21, Oneonta 5
GAME SUMMARY:
Team          1-2-3-4 Final
Oneonta        0-1-2-2    5
Cortland        8-5-4-4   21
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Oneonta: Nathan Doody 4-0, Anthony Laureano 1-0, Alec Solomito 0-3, Calvin Bollar 0-1
Cortland:
Zach Hopps 4-0,
Benjamin Dunlavey 3-0,
Matt Rakoczy 3-0,
McLaren Brady 2-0,
Eddie Eddington 2-0,
Nicky Bonitatibus 2-0,
Billy Davis 1-1,
Mike Hart 1-0,
James Nielsen 1-0,
Justin Siracusa 1-0,
Andrew Gonzalez 1-0,
Devin Phelps 0-5,
Mike Cantelli 0-2,
Matt Savlov 0-1,
Dan Southard 0-1
Goalkeepers:
Oneonta: Ryan Adler, 15 saves (17 GA in 45:00), Zach Reilly, 3 saves (4 GA in 15:00)
Cortland:
Scott Tota, 2 saves (1 GA in 30:00),
Joe Scalise, 4 saves (3 GA in 18:52),
Hein Hofvind, 2 saves (1 GA in 11:08)
Shots: Cortland 51, Oneonta 27
Ground Balls: Cortland 45, Oneonta 23
Turnovers: Oneonta 14, Cortland 10
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 5, Oneonta 2
Clears: Cortland 15-of-16, Oneonta 16-of-22
Faceoffs Won:Â Cortland 24, Oneonta 5
Penalties:Â Oneonta 4-3:30, Cortland 1-0:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 3-4, Oneonta 1-1
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 13-4 (ranked 11th nationally in Div. III); Oneonta (Red Dragons) 7-8
