CORTLAND, N.Y. – Sophomore goalie
Marc Esposito (West Babylon) made the last of his 13 saves with five seconds remaining in regulation as the nationally 19th-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team held on for a 10-9 victory versus Scranton Saturday afternoon at the Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons improved to 2-1 with the win. The Royals dropped to 2-4.
Senior
Terrence Haggerty (Centerport/Harborfields) led Cortland with four goals. Junior
Brandon Stiles (Mastic/Eastport-South Manor) netted three goals, sophomore
Troy Morris (Long Beach) tallied a goal and an assist, and junior
Zak Jones (East Quogue/Westhampton Beach) and freshman
Connor Leonard (Syracuse/Henninger) each scored a goal.
Senior
Brian Williams (Holtsville/Sachem East) won 13-of-23 faceoffs, collected 10 ground balls and add an assist for the Red Dragons. Junior
Jacob Rivers (Homer) and sophomore
Justin Wainwright (Homer) each contributed three ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Jones and junior
Brandon Croteau (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) secured three ground balls.
Junior Jalen Holmes (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) paced Scranton's offense with four goals. Seniors Michael Elefonte (Kinnelon, NJ) and Kieran Fallon (Rockville Centre/Kellenberg Memorial) recorded a goal and an assist apiece, and junior Collin Purdy (Hillsborough, NJ) and sophomores Cole Lukasiewicz) and Mike Bouhall (Lynbrook) each netted a goal.
Junior goalie Shayne Fallon (West Deptford, NJ) turned aside 12 shots in 59:11. Sophomore T.J. Grogan (West Nyack/Clarkstown South) played the final 49 seconds and did not face a shot. Elefonte collected six ground balls, while Purdy finished with four.
Cortland opened up a 4-1 lead after the first quarter as Haggerty scored twice and Jones and Leonard each netted a goal. Bouhall tallied Scranton's goal. The Royals closed to within 4-3 early in the second quarter after Purdy scored just seven seconds into the quarter and Holmes followed with his first of the game 45 seconds later. Morris gave Cortland a 5-3 lead at the half with his goal at 10:04.
The Red Dragons stretched their lead to 9-4 late in the third quarter. Stiles and Haggerty sandwiched a pair of goals around Lukasiewicz's score for the 9-4 advantage with 43 seconds remaining in the quarter, but Fallon's goal 17 seconds before the end of the 15 minutes made it a 9-5 score.
Holmes cut the deficit to 9-6 at 11:24 of the fourth quarter before Stiles put Cortland ahead 10-6 with his third goal of the game at 10:16. Scranton pulled to within 10-8 on a Holmes man-up goal at 8:25 and Elefonte's score at 7:27. In the closing moments of the game, the Red Dragons earned possession and ran down the game clock to under 30 seconds before turning the ball over. The Royals quickly worked a clear, and Holmes made it a 10-9 game with 17.7 seconds remaining with his fourth goal.
The Royals won the ensuing faceoff and earned a clean look by Holmes for the game-tying attempt, but Esposito denied the shot and corralled the loose ball as it bounced in front of the crease to seal the 10-9 win.
Cortland 10, Scranton 9
GAME SUMMARY:
Team 1-2-3-4 Final
Scranton 1-2-2-4 9
Cortland 4-1-4-1 10
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Scranton: Jalen Holmes 4-0, Michael Elefonte 1-1, Kieran Fallon 1-1, Cole Lukasiewicz 1-0, Mike Bouhall 1-0, Collin Purdy 1-0, Brian Dignen 0-1
Cortland:
Terrence Haggerty 4-0,
Brandon Stiles 3-0,
Troy Morris 1-1,
Connor Leonard 1-0,
Zak Jones 1-0,
Dante Yacavone 0-1,
Brian Williams 0-1
Goalkeepers:
Scranton: Shayne Fallon, 12 saves (10 GA in 59:11), T.J. Grogan, 0 saves (0 GA in :49)
Cortland:
Marc Esposito, 13 saves (9 GA in 60:00)
Shots: Scranton 45, Cortland 40
Ground Balls: Cortland 39, Scranton 35
Turnovers: Cortland 19, Scranton 18
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 12, Scranton 4
Clears: Scranton 17-of-23, Cortland 13-of-18
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 13, Scranton 10
Penalties: Cortland 7-5:00, Scranton 2-1:30
Extra-Man Offense: Scranton 1-7, Cortland 0-2
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 2-1 (ranked 19th in Div. III); Scranton (Royals) 2-4
