CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland scored six of the game's first seven goals and never looked back as the Red Dragons defeated visiting Potsdam, 19-5, in the SUNYAC Men's Lacrosse tournament semifinals. Cortland (9-3), the top seed in the SUNYAC West, will host West second seed Geneseo for the title on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
 
Dante Yacavone (Homer) and Pat Doyen (Miller Place) combined for 11 goals for the Red Dragons. Yacavone finished with six goals and Doyen registered five goals and three assists. Troy Morris (Long Beach) and Sean Barrett (Lynbrook) scored two goals each and Colton Smith (Naples/Penn Yan Academy) added a goal and an assist. Starting goalie Marc Esposito (West Babylon) finished with six saves and allowed three goals over the first three quarters and Evan Alfano (Webster/Webster Schroeder) registered two saves and gave up two goals in the fourth quarter.
 
Potsdam (7-4), the second seed from the East division, was led by Alex Burley (Canandaigua) with two goals and Josh Huiatt (Lisbon/Hugh C. Williams) with a goal and an assist. Ben Fuchs (Ft. Lauderdale, FL/Calvary Christian) made 21 saves in 52:36 of action for the Bears.
 
Fuchs made six saves in the first quarter to keep the Bears within striking distance early on. Cortland took a 3-0 lead on goals by Yacavone, Barrett and Doyen in the game's first six minutes, but Burley scored with 1:39 left in the period to cut the deficit to 3-1.
 
Doyen, however, scored with 35 seconds left in the first to give Cortland a 4-1 advantage, and Doyen and Bobby Kratochvil (Setauket/Ward Melville) scored just over a minute apart to make it 6-1 with 9:50 left in the second. Potsdam's Peyton Walsh (Ballston Spa) tallied with 8:43 remaining in the half, but Yacavone rang up three straight goals over the final 8:02 and the Red Dragons led 9-2 at halftime. Cortland put the game away by scoring the first six goals of the third quarter, including two by Morris.
 
Cortland won 21-of-27 faceoffs, including 14-of-18 by Brian Williams (Holtsville/Sachem East) and 4-of-5 by Carter Baron (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point). Williams also scored his first goal of the season and led the Red Dragons with eight ground balls.
 
Cortland 19, Potsdam 5
 
GAME SUMMARY:
 
Team                 1-2-3-4   Final
Potsdam            1-1-1-2         5
Cortland            4-5-8-2     19

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Potsdam: Alex Burley 2-0, Josh Huiatt 1-1, Peyton Walsh 1-0, Alec Miller 1-0
Cortland: Dante Yacavone 6-0, Pat Doyen 5-3, Troy Morris 2-0, Sean Barrett 2-0, Colton Smith 1-1, Connor Leonard 1-0, Brian Williams 1-0, Bobby Kratochvil 1-0, David Biank 0-2, Zak Jones 0-1, Jacob Rivers 0-1, Brandon Croteau 0-1
 
Goalkeepers:
Potsdam: Ben Fuchs, 21 saves (19 GA in 52:36), Liam O'Neil, 5 saves (0 GA in 5:34), Nate Prelewicz, 0 saves (0 GA in 1:50)
Cortland: Marc Esposito, 6 saves (3 GA in 45:00), Evan Alfano, 2 saves (2 GA in 15:00)

Shots: Cortland 66, Potsdam 27
Ground Balls: Cortland 38, Potsdam 13
Turnovers: Potsdam 24, Cortland 12
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 5, Potsdam 1
Clears: Cortland 22-of-22, Potsdam 21-of-29
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 21, Potsdam 6
Penalties: Potsdam 5-4:30, Cortland 4-2:00
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 2-5, Potsdam 0-4

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 9-3; Potsdam (Bears) 7-4