ROCHESTER, N.Y. –  The Cortland men's hockey team scored six unanswered goals in the final 25 minutes of the game and defeated Nazareth College, 7-3, Friday night in non-conference action at the Bill Gray's Iceplex. The Red Dragons improved to 9-4-1 with the win and next face nationally third-ranked Utica in a non-league road game on Sunday. The Golden Flyers dropped to 3-8-1.

Seven different players scored goals for Cortland, led by senior Michael Sciore (Syracuse/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) and sophomore Sutter Donegan (Cicero/Buffalo Jr. Sabres), who tallied a goal and an assist. Seniors Ethan Homitz (Allison Park, PA/New Hampshire Monarchs) and Shane Beaulieu (Port Perry, ON/Powassan VooDoos), juniors Matt Jahn (Glen Allen, VA/Charlotte Rush) and Trevor Veneklase (Brentwood, TN/Seahawks Hockey Club) and sophomore Nate Berke (Williamsville/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) each added a goal.

Graduate student Alex Storjohann (Phoenix, AZ/Kirkland Lake), unior A.J. Przystawski (Burlington, CT/New Hampshire Avalanche), sophomore Cameron Knowlton (Kenai, AK/Charlotte Rush) and freshmen Johnny Facchini (Succasunna, NJ/PAL Junior Islanders) and Anthony Bernardo (Hauppauge/PAL Junior Islanders) recorded one assist apiece for the Red Dragons. Junior goalie Luca Durante (Brampton, ON/Aurora Tigers) ran his season record to 8-2-1, making 39 saves.

Mitch Culver paced Nazareth with two goals and an assist. Ethan Louisos netted a goal, and Ray Falso, Liam Beaudoin, Cole Moore and Johnny Jackson each contributed an assist. Goalie David Reduzzi turned aside 33 shots, allowing five of the seven goals in 58:25.

Culver opened the scoring 6:40 into the game with an even-strength goal. Berke tied the score at the 16:30 mark of the first period, but just under three minutes later, the Red Dragons took two five-minute major penalties giving the Golden Flyers a two-man advantage for the full five minutes. Culver gave Nazareth the lead four seconds before the end of the period, and Louisos put the Golden Flyers ahead, 3-1, with a power-play goal at 2:52 of the second period.

The score remained 3-1 until late in the second period when Cortland started its comeback. Homitz netted his fourth goal of the season at 15:40, and Jahn followed with his second goal of the season 50 seconds later to send the game to the third period tied at 3-3.

Sciore wasted little time in scoring the game winner, picking up his fourth goal of the season 1:26 into the period, giving Cortland its first lead of the game at 4-3. Veneklase pushed the lead to 5-3 at 14:28, scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle on a break. The Red Dragons took a penalty just over two minutes later, and Nazareth pulled Reduzzi for an extra skater but Cortland killed off the attempt. The Golden Flyers went back on the power play with 2:02 remaining, again pulling Reduzzi. The Red Dragons secured the victory with a pair of empty-net short-handed goals, one each from Beaulieu and Donegan, 30 seconds apart for the 7-3 final.
 
Cortland 7, Nazareth 3

Score by periods:
Cortland        1-2-4        7
Nazareth       2-1-0        3

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists) 
Cortland: Michael Sciore 1-1, Sutter Donegan 1-1, Nate Berke 1-0, Ethan Homitz 1-0, Matt Jahn 1-0, Trevor Veneklase 1-0, Shane Beaulieu 1-0, A.J. Przystawski 0-1, Johnny Facchini 0-1, Anthony Bernardo 0-1, Alex Storjohann 0-1, Cameron Knowlton 0-1
Nazareth: Mitch Culver 2-1, Ethan Louisos 1-0, Ray Falso 0-1, Liam Beaudoin 0-1, Cole Moore 0-1, Johnny Jackson 0-1

Saves: Luca Durante (Cortland) 39 saves (3 GA in 60:00); David Reduzzi (Nazareth) 33 saves (5 GA in 58:25), Empty Net 2 GA in 1:35

Shots on Goal: Nazareth 42 (12-20-10), Cortland 40 (12-11-17)
Penalties: Cortland 7-36:00, Nazareth 1-2:00
Power Play: Nazareth 2-6, Cortland 0-1

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 9-4-1, Nazareth (Golden Flyers) 3-8-1