BUFFALO, NY – The nationally 20th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw on the road against nationally 24th-ranked Buffalo State on Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale. Cortland is now 13-3-4 (6-1-2 SUNYAC), while Buffalo State is 13-1-2 (7-1-1 SUNYAC). Cortland will be the third seed in the SUNYAC Tournament, and will host Oswego in the first round on Saturday, Nov. 2.

Alex Lessman (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage) scored Cortland's goal, with Mateo Marra (Ossining) returning to action after missing time to injury contributing an assist for the Red Dragons. Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) made six saves in goal for Cortland.

Tapiwa Mushonga scored Buffalo State's goal, with an assist from Manu Prieto. Shae Wirt made three saves for the Bengals.

In the seventh minute, Prieto had an opportunity to give the Bengals the lead, but his shot rang off the left post. Shortly after, Buffalo State took the lead on Mushonga's goal, knocking in a loose ball off of a corner kick that the Cortland defense couldn't clear.

In the 17th minute, Cortland equalized from a set piece. After a Buffalo State foul, Marra sent a free kick into the box, and Lessman was able to get to the ball first for his second goal of the season.

The game remained scoreless into halftime, with Ott making two more saves for the Red Dragons.

Cortland looked dangerous coming out of halftime, forcing Wirt to make a pair of saves in the opening ten minutes.

In the 66th minute, Matt Shultz (Oneonta) was within feet of giving Cortland the lead, but his shot his off of the crossbar.

Buffalo State forced Ott into making two more saves, and the Red Dragons were unable to hit the target with any more shots the rest of the way as the game ended level.
 
Cortland 1, Buffalo State 1
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Alex Lessman 1-0, Mateo Marra 0-1
Buffalo State: Tapiwa Mushonga 1-0, Manu Prieto 0-1

Halftime: Cortland 1, Buffalo State 1
Shots: Cortland 12, Buffalo State 11
Corner Kicks: Cortland 5, Buffalo State 3
Fouls: Buffalo State 8, Cortland 2
 
Saves: Jordan Ott (Cortland) 6 saves (1 GA in 90:00), Shae Wirt (Buffalo State) 3 saves (1 GA in 90:00)
Record after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 13-3-4, 6-1-2 SUNYAC (ranked 20th in Division III); Buffalo State (Bengals) 13-1-1, 7-1-1 SUNYAC (ranked 24th in Division III)