GENESEO, N.Y. - The nationally 18th-ranked Geneseo men's lacrosse team opened up an 8-2 lead midway through the third quarter and held on to defeat third-ranked Cortland, 8-6, in SUNYAC action Wednesday afternoon. The Red Dragons fell to 7-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference with the setback, while the Knights improved to 7-1 and 2-0.

Junior Brandon Misiaszek (New Hartford) led Cortland with two goals and two assists. Junior Brian Krol (Niskayuna) scored a pair of goals and freshmen Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) and Greg Wright (Irondequoit) each netted a goal. Junior Chris Dutkowsky (Vestal) added an assist. Sophomore Chris DeLuca (Sayville) won 10-of-15 faceoffs and senior goalie Matt Hipenbecker (Mountain Lakes, NJ) made three saves.

Mike Cintineo and Justin Rand each scored twice for Geneseo. Three players -- Tom Costanza, Craig Lange and Jim Fiacco -- contributed one goal and one assist apiece and Dylan Bittlingmaier scored once. Goalie Dennis Costanza stopped 10 shots.

The Knights led 2-0 after the first quarter on goals from Costanza and Cintineo. Lange upped the lead to 3-0 at 10 minutes, 30 seconds of the second quarter before Krol finally put Cortland on the scoreboard at 7:49. Cintineo scored again at 4:09 for a 4-1 lead, but Misiaszek netted an unassisted goal just 26 seconds before the half.

Geneseo appeared to take control of the game with the first four goals of the third quarter, two coming from Rand and one each from Fiacco and Bittlingmaier. The Knights held an 8-2 lead at the 7:03 mark. Misiaszek cut the deficit to 8-3 just 37 seconds later and Wright scored a man-up goal at 3:19 to make it an 8-4 game heading into the final 15 minutes. Geneseo was able to possess the ball and run the clock and Cortland finally was able to break through with a goal from Tota at 5:10. Krol's man-up score with 14 seconds remaining concluded the scoring.

Cortland outshot Geneseo, 32-22, including 12-2 in the fourth quarter, held a 34-25 advantage in ground balls and won 11-of-18 faceoffs. 
 

FINAL SCORE: Geneseo 8, Cortland 6

GAME SUMMARY:
Team                                           1     2    3    4        Final    
Cortland (7-2, 1-1 SUNYAC)   0    2    2    2            6            
Geneseo (7-1, 2-0 SUNYAC)  2    2    4    0            8

Scoring (Goals-Assists):

Cortland: Brandon Misiaszek 2-2, Brian Krol 2-0, Mike Tota 1-0, Greg Wright 1-0, Chris Dutkowsky 0-1 
Geneseo: Mike Cintineo 2-0, Justin Rand 2-0, Tom Costanza 1-1, Craig Lange 1-1, Jim Fiacco 1-1, Dylan Bittlingmaier 1-0, Dennis Costanza 0-1 

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Matt Hipenbecker, 3 saves (8 GA in 60:00)
Geneseo: Dennis Costanza, 10 saves (6 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 32, Geneseo 22 
Ground Balls: Cortland 34, Geneseo 25
Clears: Cortland 18-of-21, Geneseo 19-22 
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 11, Geneseo 7 
Penalties: Cortland 2-1:30, Geneseo 3-2:00
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 2-3, Geneseo 0-2