CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland men's lacrosse team built a 5-0 lead after the first quarter and held on for an 11-8 victory Friday night in the championship game of the 2021 SUNYAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament at the Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons won their eighth straight game, improving to 10-3 on the season, and earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III playoffs. Cortland learns of its opponent and its destination Sunday night at 9 p.m. during the selection show on ncaa.com.

Junior Pat Doyen (Miller Place) was named the Most Valuable Player after scoring four goals, collecting six ground balls and causing two turnovers to lead the Red Dragons. Freshman Colton Smith (Naples/Penn Yan Academy) netted three goals. Junior Dante Yacavone (Homer) tallied two goals and two assists, senior Zak Jones (East Quogue/Westhampton Beach) recorded one goal and one assist, junior Troy Morris (Long Beach) netted a goal and senior Brandon Stiles (Mastic/Eastport-South Manor) and sophomore Sean Barrett (Lynbrook) each chipped in with an assist.

Junior goalie Marc Esposito (West Babylon) matched his career high with 16 saves for Cortland. Senior Brian Williams (Holtsville/Sachem East) won 14-of-21 faceoffs and collected eight ground balls. Junior Dominick Natale (Homer) secured eight ground balls and caused three turnovers, senior Mike Nicholson (North Babylon/St. Anthony's) finished with four ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Jones and senior Anthony LaRosa (East Meadow) scooped up three ground balls each.

Junior Kevin Cook (Northport) paced Geneseo's (6-4) offense with two goals and one assist. Sophomore Christian Marcello (Saint James/Smithtown East) also netted two goals. Senior Tim Fallo (Mohegan Lake/Lakeland) registered four points on one goal and three assists, senior James Pratt (East Fishkill/John Jay) tallied one goal and one assist and senior Cameron Chiodo (Greenlawn/John H. Glenn) and junior Liam Thompson (Kings Park) scored one goal apiece.

Sophomore goalie Mark Pav (South Setauket/Ward Melville) turned aside 14 shots. Senior Connor Griffin (Lake Grove/Sachem North) and freshman Trevor Bollinger (Ithaca) each recorded five ground balls. Cook and senior Tyler Bushnell (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) added four ground balls, and Pratt caused three turnovers.

Five different players scored in Cortland's five-goal first quarter. Cook netted his two goals and Yacavone and Doyen each scored in the second quarter, and the Red Dragons took a 7-2 lead into intermission.

The Knights pulled to within 8-5 at the 5:48 mark of the third quarter before Doyen's fourth goal of the game gave Cortland a 9-5 advantage heading into the final 15 minutes of play. After Smith made it a 10-5 score 59 seconds into the fourth quarter, Pratt and Marcello netted man-up goals 34 seconds apart and Fallo scored at 4:54 to make it a 10-8 game.

Esposito made a point-blank save on Fallo with 1:15 remaining, and after a good Cortland clear, Yacavone fed Smith in front who scored to make it 11-8 at the 1:05 mark. Williams won the ensuing faceoff and the Red Dragons were able to run out the clock to seal the win.

Joining Doyen on the All-Tournament Team were Esposito, Yacavone, Williams, Natale and junior Justin Wainwright (Homer) of Cortland; Bollinger, Fallo and Pav of Geneseo; Michael Benasutti of Oneonta; and Ben Fuchs of Potsdam.

Junior Sean Byrne (Smithtown/Smithtown West) of Geneseo received the SUNYAC Elite 20 Award for having the highest grade-point average at the championship site.
 
Cortland 11, Geneseo 8
 
GAME SUMMARY:
 
Team                 1-2-3-4   Final
Geneseo            0-2-3-3       8
Cortland             5-2-2-2     11

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Geneseo: Kevin Cook 2-1, Christian Marcello 2-0, Tim Fallo 1-3, James Pratt 1-1, Cameron Chiodo 1-0, Liam Thompson 1-0
Cortland: Pat Doyen 4-0, Colton Smith 3-0, Dante Yacavone 2-2, Zak Jones 1-1, Troy Morris 1-0, Brandon Stiles 0-1, Sean Barrett 0-1
 
Goalkeepers:
Geneseo: Mark Pav, 14 saves (11 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Marc Esposito, 16 saves (8 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 46, Geneseo 39
Ground Balls: Cortland 45, Geneseo 31
Turnovers: Cortland 21, Geneseo 16
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 9, Geneseo 9
Clears: Cortland 19-of-27, Geneseo 18-of-24
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 14, Geneseo 7
Penalties: Geneseo 7-6:00, Cortland 4-3:30
Extra-Man Offense: Geneseo 3-3, Cortland 1-7

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 10-3; Geneseo (Knights) 6-4