CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally second-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team held E. Connecticut St. scoreless in the second half to earn a 12-4 victory Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at the Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons improved to 5-1 with the win, while the Warriors fell to 2-3.

Sophomore Zach Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) paced the Cortland offense with four goals and one assist. Senior Cody Consul (Webster/Webster Schroeder) and junior Matt Rakoczy (Clifton Park/Albany Academy) each contributed two goals and one assist. Junior Mike Cantelli (Holmdel, NJ) had one goal and two assists, senior Nate Garbarino (Binghamton) tallied one goal and one assist and juniors Patrick Brown (Camillus/West Genesee) and Benjamin Dunlavey (Elmira/Corning East) chipped in with a goal.

Junior goalie Scott Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) made 11 saves, including eight in the second half, in 57 minutes, 11 seconds before giving way to senior Nick Costabile (New Fairfield, CT), who stopped one shot over the final 2:49. Sophomore Conner Johnston (Homer) won 9-of-12 faceoffs and collected a team-high six ground balls. Junior Luke McNaney (Marcellus) recorded four ground balls, senior Stephen Burke (Yorktown) registered four ground balls and two caused turnovers and Brown also caused two turnovers.

Senior Mike Devine (Cheshire, CT) led E. Connecticut St. with a pair of goals. Senior Tyler Fresen (Newington, CT) contributed one goal and one assist, senior Mike Jordan (Cheshire, CT) notched a goal and junior Zach Thresher (Somers, CT) and sophomore Tim Reilly (Hanover, MA) chipped in with one assist apiece.

Sophomore Blake Smaldone (Hamilton, MA/Hyde (CT)) started in the cage and made five saves in the first half. Sophomore Brendan Gillotti (Danbury, CT) played the final 30 minutes, stopping three shots. Junior Travis Tiger (Ridgefield, CT) collected a game-high seven ground balls and added two caused turnovers, junior Dan Vasquez (Newington, CT) recorded five ground balls and sophomore Tyler Vallie (Orange, CT/Amity Regional) won 9-of-19 faceoffs and registered four ground balls.

Cortland opened up a 5-3 lead after the first quarter as Hopps had two goals and an assist and Rakoczy picked up one goal and one assist for the Red Dragons, while Devine, Jordan and Fresen each scored for the Warriors. Cortland bumped its lead to 7-4 at the half as Consul scored at 7:34 of the second quarter and Hopps netted a man-up goal at 3:32 before Devine tallied his second of the game at the 1:26 mark.

The Red Dragons took control of the game by out scoring E. Connecticut St., 3-0, in the third quarter for a 10-4 lead. Garbarino assisted Dunlavey's score at 12:46, then netted his goal at 4:05 and Brown closed the quarter with a goal at 2:17. Rakoczy made it an 11-4 game with a man-up goal at 8:30 of the fourth quarter before Hopps finished the scoring at 7:34 for the final of 12-4.

Cortland 12, E. Conn. St. 4

GAME SUMMARY:

Team 1-2-3-4 Final
E. Conn. St. (2-3) 3-1-0-0 4
Cortland (5-1) 5-2-3-2 12

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
E. Conn. St.: Mike Devine 2-0, Tyler Fresen 1-1, Mike Jordan 1-0, Tim Reilly 0-1, Zach Thresher 0-1
Cortland: Zach Hopps 4-1, Cody Consul 2-1, Matt Rakoczy 2-1, Mike Cantelli 1-2, Nate Garbarino 1-1, Patrick Brown 1-0, Benjamin Dunlavey 1-0, Tyler Chin 0-1, Luke McNaney 0-1, Nate Beresovoy 0-1

Goalkeepers:
E. Conn. St.: Blake Smaldone, 5 saves (7 GA in 30:00), Brendan Gillotti, 3 saves (5 GA in 30:00)
Cortland: Scott Tota, 11 saves (4 GA in 57:11), Nick Costabile, 1 save (0 GA in 2:49)

Shots: Cortland 37, E. Conn. St. 29
Ground Balls: Cortland 31, E. Conn. St. 30
Turnovers: E. Conn. St. 19, Cortland 18
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 9, E. Conn. St. 5
Clears: Cortland 19-of-22, E. Conn. St. 14-of-19
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 11, E. Conn. St. 9
Penalties: Cortland 4-2:30, E. Conn. St. 3-3:00
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 3-3, E. Conn. St. 0-4