CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally third-ranked RIT men's lacrosse team used a pair of five-goal runs in earning a 13-8 victory at Cortland Wednesday night in non-conference action at the Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons dropped to 5-3 with the setback. The Tigers improved to 9-1.

Senior Jason Chiodo (Hamburg) scored a pair of goals to lead Cortland. Seniors Troy Morris (Long Beach) and Tyler Starrett (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) tallied a goal and an assist. Junior Bobby Kratochvil (Setauket/Ward Melville) and sophomores Sam Rothman (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills East), Klay Stuver (Fairport) and Ryan Smith (East Islip) each netted a goal. Senior Dante Yacavone (Homer) and sophomore Caden Yancey (Fayetteville/Fayetteville-Manlius) recorded one assist apiece.

Junior goalie Travis Wagner (Penfield) registered 18 saves for the Red Dragons. Sophomore Owen Neubauer (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) won seven faceoffs, while seven different Cortland players scooped up two ground balls each.

Senior TJ Hendricks (Fairport/Avon Old Farms) paced the RIT offense with three goals and two assists. Senior Luke Pilcher (Burlington, ON/Everest Academy) recorded two goals and an assist, senior John Mozrall (Pittsford/Pittsford Sutherland) tallied a goal and three assists, junior Seth Grottenthaler (Corning) contributed a goal and an assist, and six others each netted a goal.

Graduate student Will Sterrett (Reston, VA/St. Stephen's St. Agnes) made eight saves and secured five ground balls in goal. Senior Ethan Stiles (Cortland/Homer) won 9-of-13 faceoffs, while junior Nick Farrell (Whitesboro) was successful on 8-of-12 faceoffs and collected four ground balls. Junior Michael Grace (Hamilton, ON/Sherwood Secondary) finished with six ground balls and five caused turnovers.

Cortland opened up a 3-0 lead just before the midway point of the first quarter on goals from Starrett, Chiodo and Kratochvil. The Tigers answered with the final four goals of the first quarter and the first goal of the second quarter from five different players to take a 5-3 lead. Smith's goal at the 11:37 mark stopped the run, but RIT closed the first half with two goals for a 7-4 lead.

Three different players netted goals to open the third quarter for the Tigers, pushing their lead at 10-4 at 5:28 of the quarter. Stuver scored at 3:24, and Chiodo tallied a man-up goal with 13 seconds remaining to make it a 10-6 game after 45 minutes of play. The Tigers regained their six-goal lead at 12-6 with 5:51 remaining. Morris scored a man-up goal at 4:33, followed by Dinga's goal at 3:40. Shortly after, a powerful snow squall moved through the area, covering the field and hindering visibility. Rothman concluded the scoring with another Cortland man-up goal with 2:10 remaining for the 13-8 final.

RIT 13, Cortland 8

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                  1-2-3-4  Final
RIT                      4-3-3-3     13
Cortland              3-1-2-2       8

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
RIT: TJ Hendricks 3-2, Luke Pilcher 2-1, John Mozrall 1-3, Seth Grottenthaler 1-1, Spencer Bell 1-0, Kaden Brunson 1-0, Caiden Perry 1-0, Ian Dinga 1-0, Dylan Bruno 1-0, Zeb Hollinger 1-0, Sean Traynor 0-1, Michael Finneran 0-1, Sam Bennett 0-1
Cortland: Jason Chiodo 2-0, Troy Morris 1-1, Tyler Starrett 1-1, Sam Rothman 1-0, Bobby Kratochvil 1-0, Klay Stuver 1-0, Ryan Smith 1-0, Dante Yacavone 0-1, Caden Yancey 0-1

Goalkeepers:
RIT: Will Sterrett, 8 saves (8 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Travis Wagner, 18 saves (13 GA in 57:20), Matt Stento, 0 saves (0 GA in 2:40)

Shots: RIT 51, Cortland 32
Ground Balls: RIT 40, Cortland 21
Turnovers: RIT 19, Cortland 19
Caused Turnovers: RIT 9, Cortland 4
Clears: RIT 25-of-30, Cortland 20-of-23
Faceoffs Won: RIT 17, Cortland 8
Penalties: RIT 4-3:30, Cortland 3-2:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 3-4, RIT 2-3

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 5-3, RIT (Tigers) 9-1 (ranked 3rd in Div. III)