CORTLAND, N.Y. -- The nationally sixth-ranked Cortland men's soccer team jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than 13 minutes into the game and the Red Dragons defeated visiting Buffalo State, 5-0, in the SUNYAC tournament semifinals.
Cortland (14-2-2) will host third-seeded and nationally 23rd-ranked Oneonta in the conference championship game on Saturday at a time to be announced. Oneonta won at second-seeded Brockport, 1-0, in Wednesday's other semifinal contest.
Mateo Marra (Ossining) led Cortland with two goals and two assists.
Jack Pinnata (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage),
Jack Coleman (Newark Valley/Maine-Endwell) and
Matt Shultz (Oneonta) scored once each and
Cade Denlinger (Elizabethtown, PA/Elizabethtown Area) notched one assist.
Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) made two saves for his ninth shutout of the season.
Shae Wirt made nine saves for fourth-seeded Buffalo State (11-5-3). Cortland outshot the Bengals, 31-7, and held a 12-7 advantage in corner kicks.
Pinnata opened the scoring in the seventh minute when he headed a corner kick from Denlinger into the upper right corner of the net. Coleman made it 2-0 with 12:35 elapsed when he headed in a serve from Marra from the left side inside the left post.
After a snow squall dusted the field, Marra scored a pair of unassisted goals later in the half to extend Cortland's lead to 4-0. He dribbled through multiple defenders and scored inside the left post exactly 30 minutes into the half and he stole the ball and dribbled in for a 1-on-1 goal in the 34th minute. Cortland closed the scoring when Shultz, as weather conditions worsened, took a diagonal pass from Marra and scored inside the left post in the 69th minute.
Cortland 5, Buffalo St. 0
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Buffalo St.: No scoring
Cortland:
Mateo Marra 2-2,
Jack Pinnata 1-0,
Jack Coleman 1-0,
Matt Shultz 1-0,
Cade Denlinger 0-1
Halftime: Cortland 4, Buffalo St. 0
Shots: Cortland 31, Buffalo St. 7
Corner Kicks: Cortland 12, Buffalo St. 7
Fouls: Cortland 14, Oswego 8
Saves: Shae Wirt (Buffalo St.) 9 saves (5 GA in 90:00);
Jordan Ott (Cortland) 2 saves (0 GA in 90:00)
Record after game: Buffalo St. (Bengals) 11-5-3; Cortland (Red Dragons) 14-2-2 (ranked sixth nationally in Div. III)
