CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally fifth-ranked and top-seeded Cortland men's soccer team scored a goal in each half and held on for a 2-1 victory versus fourth-seeded Buffalo St. Wednesday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2021 SUNYAC Men's Soccer Tournament at Holloway Field. The Red Dragons improved to 15-2-1 on the season and host sixth-seeded Oswego in the finals on Saturday as a time to be determined. The Bengals fell to 13-6-1.

Graduate student Blake Aronson (Huntington Station/Walt Whitman) and junior Riley Williams (Watertown/South Jefferson) each scored a goal for Cortland. Graduate student Lukas Rubio (Liverpool) collected an assist. Junior goalie Braden Melveney (Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) registered five saves.

Senior Pa Lu (Buffalo/I-Prep) netted his first goal of the season for Buffalo St. with senior Theo Pencic (Oslo, Norway/Heltberg) assisting on the score. Junior goalie Max Shoemaker (Niagara Falls/Niagara Wheatfield) turned aside eight shots.

The Red Dragons controlled much of the play in the first half, creating three excellent scoring chances. In the 15th minute, sophomore Jack Coleman (Endwell/Maine-Endwell) had a clean header at the back post denied by Shoemaker. In the 22nd minute, Shoemaker made a diving save at the right post on a 20-yard shot from Williams and then punched a Williams 25-yard free kick over the crossbar in the 26th minute. Cortland finally broke through in the 28th minute when Williams scored on a header off a corner kick serve from Rubio.

Coleman generated the first good opportunity in the second half, breaking in on Shoemaker in the 63rd minute but had his shot denied. Two minutes later, the Bengals nearly tallied the equalizer, but Melveney made a diving save at the right post on junior Moe Saif's (Buffalo/Coppell (TX)) shot from the top of the box. Cortland made it a 2-0 game in the 76th minute as Aronson converted a penalty kick for his team-high 12th goal of the season after a Bengal defender pulled Coleman down on the left side of the box.

Buffalo St. turned up the offensive pressure in the final 10 minutes. In the 80th minute, a Cortland defender cleared sophomore Musa Abdullah's (Buffalo/Home School) header on a corner kick off the line to keep it a 2-0 game. The Bengals eventually got on the scoreboard in the 82nd minute. Pencic headed a pass to Lu in the middle of the box who put a shot inside the right post. Buffalo St. managed two more shots on goal in the closing minutes, but Melveney made saves on Lu and Pencic to secure the 2-1 win.

Cortland 2, Buffalo St. 1

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Buffalo St.: Pa Lu 1-0, Theo Pencic 0-1
Cortland: Riley Williams 1-0, Blake Aronson 1-0,  Lukas Rubio 0-1

Halftime: Cortland 1, Buffalo St. 0
Shots: Cortland 23, Buffalo St. 12
Corner Kicks: Cortland 10, Buffalo St. 3
Fouls: Cortland 14, Buffalo St. 12
Saves: Max Shoemaker (Buffalo St.) 8 saves (2 GA in 90:00); Braden Melveney (Cortland) 5 saves (1 GA in 90:00), 1 Team save

Record after game: Buffalo St. (Bengals) 13-6-1; Cortland (Red Dragons) 15-2-1 (ranked 5th nationally in Div. III)