CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Hamilton men's lacrosse team built a 7-0 lead 19 minutes into the game and held off a Cortland comeback bid to earn a 12-8 victory over the Red Dragons Wednesday night in non-conference action at the Stadium Complex. Cortland dropped to 2-5. The Continentals evened their record at 3-3.

Graduate student Zak Jones (East Quogue/Westhampton Beach) led the Red Dragons with four goals. Senior Dante Yacavone (Homer) tallied one goal and two assists, senior Troy Morris (Long Beach) contributed one goal and one assist and junior Jason Chiodo (Hamburg) and sophomore Colton Smith (South Bristol/Penn Yan Academy) each netted a goal. Graduate student Brandon Stiles (Mastic/Eastport-South Manor) added an assist.

Sophomore Evan Alfano (Webster/Webster Schroeder) started in goal for Cortland, making four saves in 19 minutes. Junior Matt Stento (Bethlehem) stopped six shots over the final 41 minutes. Jones recorded three caused turnovers and two ground balls. Senior Justin Wainwright (Homer) secured five ground balls, and senior Dominick Natale (Homer) collected three ground balls.

Senior Tim Sommer (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) paced Hamilton's offense with three goals and an assist. Senior Britt Defeo (Rehoboth, MA/Moses Brown) also netted three goals. Junior Rowan Brumbaugh (Berwyn, PA/Episcopal Academy) and freshman Jayme Wilde (Upton, MA/Phillips Academy) scored two goals apiece, sophomore Christian Byrne (Garden City) finished with a goal and two assists and freshman Justin Pearl (Westport, CT/St. Luke's School) chipped in with a goal.

Junior goalie Seamus Fagan (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury) registered 14 saves and two ground balls. Sophomore Michael Scoleri (Sayville) won 18-of-23 faceoffs and added eight ground balls and an assist. Wilde scooped up three ground balls along with seniors Marc Welch (Skaneateles/Trinity-Pawling) and Hauken Washington (Atlanta, GA/Hotchkiss School), junior Cole Johnson (West Hartford, CT/Conard) and sophomore Kyle Mannherz (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury).

The Continentals took a 4-0 lead after the first quarter as four different players netted a goal. The lead grew to 7-0 just four minutes into the second quarter. Cortland closed the half with two goals, one each from Jones and Smith, and Hamilton took a 7-2 advantage into intermission. Cortland scored three of the first four goals of the third quarter to pull to within 8-5 at the 3:00 mark, but the Continentals answered with three of the next four goals to push their lead back to five at 11-6 just past the midway point of the fourth quarter. Jones and Chiodo wrapped goals around a Defeo score in the closing minutes for the 12-8 final.

Hamilton 12, Cortland 8

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                 1-2-3-4  Final
Hamilton            4-3-2-3    12
Cortland             0-2-3-3      8

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Hamilton: Tim Sommer 3-1, Britt Defeo 3-0, Rowan Brumbaugh 2-0, Jayme Wilde 2-0, Christian Byrne 1-2, Justin Pearl 1-0, Zach Perotto 0-1, Michael Scoleri 0-1
Cortland: Zak Jones 4-0, Dante Yacavone 1-2, Troy Morris 1-1, Colton Smith 1-0, Jason Chiodo 1-0, Brandon Stiles 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Hamilton: Seamus Fagan, 14 saves (8 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Evan Alfano, 4 saves (7 GA in 19:00), Matt Stento, 6 saves (5 GA in 41:00)

Shots: Hamilton 44, Cortland 33
Ground Balls: Hamilton 38, Cortland 21
Turnovers: Hamilton 21, Cortland 17
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 7, Hamilton 6
Clears: Cortland 18-of-27, Hamilton 19-of-22
Faceoffs Won: Hamilton 18, Cortland 5
Penalties: Cortland 6-4:30, Hamilton 4-2:00
Extra-Man Offense: Hamilton 0-6, Cortland 1-4

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 2-5, Hamilton (Continentals) 3-3