CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland men's lacrosse team outscored nationally 13th-ranked St. John Fisher, 7-3, in the second half in earning a 12-5 victory in the season-opening game for both teams Wednesday afternoon at the Stadium Complex.

Senior Jason Chiodo (Hamburg) led eight Red Dragon goal scorers with three goals. Sophomores Caden Yancey (Fayetteville/Fayetteville-Manlius) and Klay Stuver (Fairport) each netted two goals. Senior Dante Yacavone (Homer) and recorded a goal and two assists, senior Tyler Starrett (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) and senior Troy Morris (Long Beach) tallied a goal and an assist and sophomores Alex Thrasher (Vestal) and Sam Rothman (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills East) scored one goal apiece. Sophomore Ryan Scanlon (Cornelius, NC/William Amos Hough) contributed three assists.

Junior goalie Travis Wagner (Penfield) turned aside 14 shots and collected two ground balls for Cortland. Senior Justin Wainwright (Homer) collected five ground balls and caused two turnovers. Sophomore Owen Neubauer (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) won eight face offs and scooped up four ground balls.

Sophomore Brady Mason (Silver Spring, MD/Montgomery Blair) led the Cardinals with three goals. Junior Griffin Dautrich (Auburn) registered a goal and an assist, junior Matthew Kemmis (Jamesville/Jamesville-DeWitt) netted a goal and senior Samuel Miller (Geneva) picked up an assist.

Junior goalie Ben Hammond (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) made 13 saves for St. John Fisher. Junior Logan Grom (Bath, PA/Nazareth Area) won 8-of-15 face offs and secured four ground balls. Sophomore Connor Mesh (Spencerport) caused two turnovers, and graduate student Zach Mitrano (Hilton) recorded five ground balls.

The Cardinals grabbed a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. Yancey opened the scoring at the 10:53 mark before Mason and Kemmis notched goals at 7:58 and 4:04, respectively.

Cortland then outscored St. John Fisher, 4-0, in the second quarter to take a 5-2 lead at the half. Starrett, Chiodo, Yacavone and Stuver each netted goals. After Dautrich pulled the Cardinals to within 5-3 with his goal at 6:27 of the third quarter, the Red Dragons scored three straight goals, two from Chiodo and one from Morris, to build an 8-3 advantage. Mason's second goal late in the quarter sent the game to the final 15 minutes with Cortland holding an 8-4 lead.

The Red Dragons put the game away with a four-goal run to open the fourth quarter. Yancey scored at 13:42 and Rothman and Thrasher followed with man-up goals just 30 seconds apart before Stuver finished the stretch at 7:36. Mason's third goal of the game at 6:03 completed the scoring as Cortland secured the 12-5 win. 

Cortland 12, St. John Fisher 5

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                            1-2-3-4  Final
St. John Fisher             2-0-2-1     5
Cortland                        1-4-3-4   12

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
St. John Fisher: Brady Mason 3-0, Griffin Dautrich 1-1, Matthew Kemmis 1-0, Samuel Miller 0-1
Cortland: Jason Chiodo 3-0, Caden Yancey 2-0, Klay Stuver 2-0, Dante Yacavone 1-2, Troy Morris 1-1, Tyler Starrett 1-1, Alex Thrasher 1-0, Sam Rothman 1-0, Ryan Scanlon 0-3

Goalkeepers:
St. John Fisher: Ben Hammond, 13 Saves (12 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Travis Wagner, 14 saves (5 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 40, St. John Fisher 29
Ground Balls: Cortland 30, St. John Fisher 25
Turnovers: St. John Fisher 21, Cortland 17
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 8, St. John Fisher 6
Clears: Cortland 17-of-19, St. John Fisher 20-of-25
Faceoffs Won: St. John Fisher 12, Cortland 8
Penalties: Cortland 8-6:30, St. John Fisher 4-4:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 2-5, St. John Fisher 0-8

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 1-0, St. John Fisher (Cardinals) 0-1 (ranked 13th in Div. III)