CORTLAND, N.Y. - Junior Brian Krol (Niskayuna) scored three goals and sophomore Chris DeLuca (Sayville) won 15-of-18 faceoffs as the nationally seventh-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team defeated RIT, 11-6, Saturday afternoon at the Stadium Complex in non-conference action. The Red Dragons improved to 6-1, while the Tigers lost their third straight and fell to 5-3.

Freshman Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) contributed two goals and two assists for the Red Dragons, junior Brandon Misiaszek (New Hartford) had two goals and an assist and sophomore Eric Parah (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) scored twice. Sophomore Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields) and freshman Greg Wright (Irondequoit) added one goal and one assist each. Senior goalie Matt Hipenbecker (Mountain Lakes, NJ) made 11 saves, including five in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Cody Schroeder-Young (East Syracuse/East Syracuse-Minoa) paced RIT with two goals. Sophomore Adam Vlassis (Syracuse/East Syracuse-Monia) collected a goal and two assists, and junior Sean Gillies (Oakville, ON/Albany Academy) and sophomores Chris Cherami (Olwick, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) and Kelso Davis (Deerfield, ME/Freeport Academy) scored once apiece. Sophomore goalie Robert Tonnessen (Ridgefield, CT) registered 16 saves, including seven in the opening quarter.

Tota gave Cortland a 1-0 lead at eight minutes, 33 seconds of the first quarter off a feed from senior Joey Morgan (Putnam Valley). Davis answered less than two minutes later to knot up the score and Gillies gave the Tigers their only lead of the game, 2-1, at 1:12 of the first. Cortland connected for the only three goals of the second quarter for a 4-2 lead at the intermission. Krol scored at 14:17, and Misiaszek and Krol added goals less than two minutes apart late.

The Red Dragons broke open the game by outscoring RIT, 6-2, in the third quarter. After Tota and Schroder-Young traded goals early, Misiaszek, DiStefano, Krol and Wright scored in a six-minute span to make it a 9-3 game at the 3:16 mark. Vlassis stopped the run at 2:05 with an unassisted score but Parah made it 10-4 only 16 seconds later. In the early minutes of the fourth quarter, the Red Dragons took four penalties and RIT finally cashed in at 9:21 with a two-man advantage. Cherami then scored at 7:08 to pull the Tigers to within 10-6, but Parah stemmed any RIT momentum when he scooped up a ground ball on the ensuing faceoff and scored just eight seconds later to make it an 11-6 game and conclude the scoring.

Cortland outshot RIT, 43-30, held a 50-42 advantage in ground balls and won 17-of-21 faceoffs. 
 

FINAL SCORE: Cortland 11, RIT 6

GAME SUMMARY:
Team                                  1     2    3    4        Final    
RIT (5-3)                             2    0    2    2            6           
Cortland (6-1)                    1    3    6    1           11

Scoring (Goals-Assists):

RIT: Cody Schroeder-Young 2-0, Adam Vlassis 1-2, Chris Cherami 1-0, Sean Gillies 1-0, Kelso Davis 1-0, Adam Lehmann 0-2, Tyler Russell 0-1 
Cortland: Brian Krol 3-0, Mike Tota 2-2, Brandon Misiaszek 2-1, Eric Parah 2-0, Jay DiStefano 1-1, Greg Wright 1-1, Chris DeLuca 0-1, Cody Hoyt 0-1, Joey Morgan 0-1 

Goalkeepers:
RIT: Robert Tonnessen, 16 saves (11 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Matt Hipenbecker, 11 saves (6 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 43, RIT 30 
Ground Balls: Cortland 50, RIT 42
Clears: Cortland 26-of-34, RIT 23-of-36 
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 17, RIT 4 
Penalties: Cortland 7-6:30, RIT 4-3:00
Extra-Man Offense: RIT 1-6, Cortland 1-4