CORTLAND, N.Y. – Junior Dante Yacavone (Homer) recorded a career-high nine points on a career-best six goals and three assists to lead the Cortland men's lacrosse team to a 16-5 win versus Oswego Friday afternoon in SUNYAC West action at the Stadium Complex. With the Red Dragons' victory by 11 goals and Geneseo's 8-5 win over Brockport, Cortland earned the top seed over Geneseo by virtue of better goal differential in the four conference games each team played against Oswego and Brockport.

Cortland, which won its six consecutive game and improved to 8-3 overall and 5-1 in the SUNYAC West, will host a SUNYAC Semifinal game on Tuesday, May 4 at 4 p.m. versus either Oneonta or Potsdam. The Lakers dropped to 0-7 and 0-6 with the setback.

With his nine points, Yacavone became the 58th player in program history to reach 100 career points, improving his numbers to 108 points on 63 goals and 45 assists.

Senior Zak Jones (East Quogue/Westhampton Beach) scored a career-best five goals for the Red Dragons. Junior Pat Doyen (Miller Place) tallied two goals and one assist, freshman Colton Smith (Naples/Penn Yan Academy) recorded one goal and one assist, senior Brandon Stiles (Mastic/Eastport-South Manor) contributed one goal and one assist and junior Troy Morris (Long Beach) notched a goal. Seniors David Biank (Roxbury, NJ) and Mike Nicholson (North Babylon/St. Anthony's) each added an assist.

Junior goalie Marc Esposito (West Babylon) made seven saves in 58:54 before giving way to freshman Evan Alfano (Webster/Webster Schroeder), who did not face a shot on cage in the final 1:06. Senior Brian Williams (Holtsville/Sachem East) won 15-of-21 faceoffs and collected eight ground balls. Junior Dominick Natale (Homer) secured five ground balls and caused two turnovers, senior Jacob Rivers scooped up three ground balls and caused two turnovers, while Smith and Nicholson each finished with five ground balls.

Sophomore Ryan DuMont (Pittsford/Pittsford Mendon) led the Lakers with a pair of goals. Freshman Lucas Cioch (Riverhead) tallied a goal and an assist, freshmen Ryan Eccles (Syracuse/Corcoran) and Tyler Stevenson (Watertown/South Jefferson) each netted a goal and junior Weston Gray (Philadelphia/Carthage) chipped in with an assist.

Senior goalie Kevin O'Donnell (Cleveland, OH/Saint Edward) registered 27 saves for Oswego. Stevenson won 4-of-8 faceoffs. Senior Seamus Burns (West Sayville/Sayville) collected six ground balls, sophomore Evan Coleman (Horseheads) secured five ground balls, and DuMont and sophomore Brendan Haims (Pittsford/Pittsford Mendon) scooped up three ground balls apiece. Senior Nathan Schultzkie (Oswego) and freshman Garrett Petrelli (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) caused two turnovers each.

Cortland took control of the game quickly, building a 5-0 lead after the first quarter as Yacavone score four times. The lead grew to 10-2 at the half and 15-3 after three quarters before the Lakers scored two of the three fourth-quarter goals for the 16-5 final.

Cortland 16, Oswego 5

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                 1-2-3-4  Final
Oswego             0-2-1-2      5
Cortland             5-5-5-1    16

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Oswego: Ryan DuMont 2-0, Lucas Cioch 1-1, Ryan Eccles 1-0, Tyler Stevenson 1-0, Weston Gray 0-1
Cortland: Dante Yacavone 6-3, Zak Jones 5-0, Pat Doyen 2-1, Colton Smith 1-2, Brandon Stiles 1-1, Troy Morris 1-0, Mike Nicholson 0-1, David Biank 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Oswego: Kevin O'Donnell, 27 saves (16 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Marc Esposito, 7 saves (5 GA in 58:54), Evan Alfano, 0 saves (0 GA in 1:06)

Shots: Cortland 63, Oswego 23
Ground Balls: Cortland 49, Oswego 30
Turnovers: Oswego 28, Cortland 15
Caused Turnovers: Oswego 10, Cortland 7
Clears: Cortland 15-of-17, Oswego 18-of-30
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 17, Oswego 7
Penalties: Oswego 5-4:00, Cortland 3-2:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 0-5, Oswego 1-3

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 8-3, 5-1 SUNYAC West; Oswego (Lakers) 0-7, 0-6 SUNYAC West