CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally third-ranked RIT men's lacrosse team outscored Cortland, 8-2, in the second quarter to break away from a 4-4 tie and went on to a 14-10 win Wednesday night in non-conference action at the Stadium Complex.
Senior
Terrence Haggerty (Centerport/Harborfields) led the Red Dragons (6-4) with four goals. Senior
Dean Riley (Homer) and freshman
Dante Yacavone (Homer) each tallied one goal and one assist, and seniors
Joey Panariello (Islip) and
Alex Waelder (Syracuse/Corcoran), junior
Brian Williams (Holtsville/Sachem East) and sophomore
Brandon Stiles (Mastic/Eastport-South Manor) netted one goal apiece.
Senior
Mike McNaney (Marcellus), junior
Corey McMahon (Lindenhurst/St. John the Baptist), sophomore
Mike Nicholson (North Babylon/St. Anthony's) and freshman
Troy Morris (Long Beach) contributed one assist apiece for Cortland.
Junior
Jon Vargas (West Islip) started in goal for the Red Dragons, making three saves in 19:05. Freshman
Marc Esposito (West Babylon) came off the bench to register a career-high 12 saves in 40:55. Williams won 13 faceoffs and collected nine ground balls, and Panariello secured four ground balls.
Senior Sean Nally (Rochester/McQuaid) paced the Tigers (10-1) with four goals and one assist. Junior Dawson Tait (Ottawa, ON/Mother Teresa) recorded three goals and two assists, and sophomore Ryan Barnable (Whitby, ON/Donald A. Wilson) also netted three goals.
Senior Cam Isaac (Webster/Webster Thomas) contributed one goal and two assists, sophomore Cameron Gebhardt (Fairport) had one goal and one assist and senior Chris Brown (Homer) and freshman Ryan Rosenblum (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) each netted a goal for RIT.
Junior goalie Walker Hare (Libertyville, IL) turned aside 17 shots. Sophomore Nick Montemorano (Victor) won 14-of-26 faceoffs and collected five ground balls. Smyth caused five turnovers and scooped up eight ground balls, and senior Matt Pogue (Mississauga, ON/St. Paul Secondary) grabbed seven ground balls.
The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead less than five minutes into the game before the Red Dragons responded with a four-goal run to take a 4-3 lead. Nally's third goal of the opening quarter made it a 4-4 score after 15 minutes of play. RIT quickly built a 9-4 lead with five goals in just over four minutes. Cortland scored two of the next three goals to cut its deficit to 10-6 at the 5:41 mark, but the Tigers closed the half with a pair of goals for a 12-6 lead at intermission.
The Tigers scored the lone goal late in the third quarter and took a 13-6 lead into the final 15 minutes of play. A goal 59 seconds into the fourth quarter put RIT ahead 14-6, but Haggerty tallied the next three goals of the contest to pull Cortland to within 14-9 with 7:58 on the clock. Yacavone's goal 49 seconds later made it a 14-10 score, but the Red Dragons were unable to cut into the lead any further as the Tigers earned the win.
RIT 14, Cortland 10
GAME SUMMARY:
Team 1-2-3-4 Final
RIT 4-8-1-1 14
Cortland 4-2-0-4 10
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
RIT: Shawn Nally 4-1, Dawson Tait 3-2, ryan Barnable 3-0, Cam Isaac 1-2, Cameron Gebhardt 1-1, Chris Brown 1-0, Ryan Rosenblum 1-0, Damon Currie 0-2, Trevor Smyth 0-1, Ryan Tandy 0-1, Matt Pogue 0-1
Cortland:
Terrence Haggerty 4-0,
Dean Riley 1-1,
Dante Yacavone 1-1,
Joey Panariello 1-0,
Brandon Stiles 1-0,
Alex Waelder 1-0,
Brian Williams 1-0,
Troy Morris 0-1,
Corey McMahon 0-1,
Mike Nicholson 0-1,
Mike McNaney 0-1
Goalkeepers:
RIT: Walker Hare, 17 saves (10 GA in 60:00)
Cortland:
Jon Vargas, 3 saves (9 GA in 19:05),
Marc Esposito, 12 saves (5 GA in 40:55)
Shots: RIT 45, Cortland 43
Ground Balls: RIT 44, Cortland 32
Turnovers: Cortland 21, RIT 20
Caused Turnovers: RIT 12, Cortland 8
Clears: RIT 19-of-26, Cortland 15-of-25
Faceoffs Won: RIT 14, Cortland 13
Penalties: RIT 7-6:00, Cortland 5-3:30
Extra-Man Offense: RIT 2-5, Cortland 0-7
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 6-4; RIT (Tigers) 10-1 (ranked 3rd nationally in Div. III)
