CORTLAND, N.Y. –  The nationally eighth-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team built a 14-4 lead early in the fourth quarter and went on to defeat 13th-ranked Springfield, 14-10, in the second round of the NCAA Div. III Men's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday evening at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons won their 12th straight game and improved to 17-3 on the season, while the Pride fell to 15-4. Cortland advanced to face Tufts University, a 10-9 winner versus Endicott, in the national quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Senior Joe Slavik (Binghamton/Seton Catholic) led the Cortland offense with seven points on three goals and four assists. Junior Benjamin Dunlavey (Elmira/Corning East) also tallied three goals, junior Matt Rakoczy (Clifton Park/Albany Academy) and sophomore Zach Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) recorded two goals and one assist each and senior Mike Cummings (Syracuse/East Syracuse Minoa) netted a pair of goals. Senior Cody Consul (Webster/Webster Schroeder) and junior Patrick Brown (Camillus/West Genesee) scored one goal apiece and four others contributed one assist.

Junior goalie Scott Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) made nine saves in 51 minutes, 16 seconds before giving way to senior Nick Costabile (New Fairfield, CT), who stopped two shots over the final 8:44. Sophomore Pat Baldwin (Alpharetta, GA) won 11-of-21 faceoffs and collected five ground balls. Seniors Stephen Burke (Yorktown) and Fred Mase (Levittown/Division Avenue) also registered five ground balls for the Red Dragons.

Senior Ryon Lynch (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) paced Springfield with five goals and two assists. Junior Dylan Sheehan (Massapequa) had one goal and three assists and senior Kevin Freeman (Minisink/Minisink Valley) chipped in with one goal and one assist. Senior Ryan Murphy (Mansfield, MA), junior Bryce Serriello (Cape Cod, MA/American International) and sophomore Brendan Boss (West Springfield, MA) each contributed a goal, while senior Devin Abad (East Longmeadow, MA) added two assists.

Senior goalie Connor Nash (Burnt Hills) registered eight saves for the Pride. Senior Brandon Fernandez (Warwick/Warwick Valley) won 16-of-27 faceoffs and collected a game-high eight ground balls, and senior Matt Giannelli (Norwich, CT/Norwich Free Academy) secured four ground balls.

Serriello opened the scoring at 13 minutes, 19 seconds with an unassisted goal before Cortland tallied the next two goals for a 2-1 lead after 15 minutes. Slavik assisted on Rakoczy's score at 6:25 and Dunlavey's goal at 1:32. Cummings and Dunlavey made it a 4-1 game early in the second quarter, but Boss cut the lead to 4-2 at the 10:48 mark. The Red Dragons answered with four of the next five goals to take an 8-3 lead into halftime. Slavik scored twice and Rakoczy picked up a goal and an assist .

The Red Dragons appeared to have taken control of the game by out scoring the Pride, 4-0, in the third quarter for a 12-3 advantage. Slavik collected a goal and an assist, Hopps scored twice and Cummings netted a goal during the quarter. After Murphy opened the fourth quarter with a goal, Consul and Dunlavey scored back-to-back goals to give Cortland its largest lead of the game at 14-4 with 8:44 remaining. From that point, Springfield netted six straight goals, four coming from Lynch, to pull to within 14-10 with 1:33 on the clock. The rally finally ended with Cortland gaining possession late and running out the clock to seal the victory 
 
Cortland 14, Springfield 10

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                          1-2-3-4 Final
Springfield (15-4)     1-2-0-7    10
Cortland (17-3)         2-6-4-2    14

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Springfield: Ryon Lynch 5-2, Dylan Sheehan 1-3, Kevin Freeman 1-1, Ryan Murphy 1-0, Brendan Boss 1-0, Bryce Serriello 1-0, Devin Abad 0-2, Matt Dalton 0-1
Cortland: Joe Slavik 3-4, Benjamin Dunlavey 3-0, Matt Rakoczy 2-1, Zach Hopps 2-1, Mike Cummings 2-0, Cody Consul 1-0, Patrick Brown 1-0, Mike Cantelli 0-1, Zach Brownlee 0-1, Nate Garbarino 0-1, Doug Meehan 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Springfield: Connor Nash, 8 saves (14 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Scott Tota, 9 saves (4 GA in 51:16), Nick Costabile, 2 saves (6 GA in 8:44)

Shots: Cortland 42, Springfield 32
Ground Balls: Springfield 33, Cortland 29
Turnovers: Springfield 14, Cortland 11
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 6, Springfield 6
Clears: Cortland 10-of-13, Springfield 7-of-13
Faceoffs Won: Springfield 16, Cortland 5
Penalties: Springfield 7-5:00, Cortland 3-2:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 3-5, Springfield 1-3