SYRACUSE, NY – The Cortland men's hockey team jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first period, and cruised to a 8-3 victory over nationally fifth-ranked Curry on Saturday at the Upstate Medical University Arena at War Memorial. Cortland has won three straight games and moves to 6-2 on the year, while Curry falls to 7-2.

Nate Berke (Williamsville/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) led Cortland with four points on two goals and two assists. It was the second straight game with multiple goals for Berke, and gives him eight goals on the year to lead the team.

Colby Seitz (Eden/Corpus Christi Ice Rays) scored twice, and Garrett Krieger (Skaneateles/Utica Jr. Comets) had two goals and an assist for the Red Dragons. Conor Humphrey (Penfield/Rochester Jr. Americans) and Nathan Garnier (Laval, QC/Cornwall Colts) were the two other Cortland players with multiple points, with Humphrey having a goal and an assist, and Garnier providing two assists. Goaltender Ronan Mobley (Playa Del Ray, CA/New Hampshire Avalanche) made 17 saves in goal for his fifth win of the season.

Taurin Haddon-Harris had a goal and an assist for Curry, and Gage Dill and Eelis Laaksonen each scored for the Colonels.

The Red Dragons scored five times in the opening period, the third time this season in eight games that Cortland has scored five times in a period. Seitz opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first period, as a feed from down the right side took a fortuitous bounce off of a defender and past the goaltender into the goal. The Red Dragons doubled their advantage three minutes later, as Berke intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and ripped a wrist shot into the corner on a breakaway.

On the ensuing faceoff after Cortland's second goal, Mobley made a clutch save on a quick chance for Curry to preserve the advantage.

Cortland scored twice in less than a minute late in the period, with Sam Christiano (Buffalo/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) finding the back of the net off a cross-ice feed at the back post from Garnier, just one second after the expiration of a Curry penalty. Berke scored on another breakaway with 3:37 left in the frame, this time deking the goaltender and flipping a backhand into the right side of the net.

Curry finally got on the board with a goal from Laaksonen from the right side in front of goal to make it 4-1. One minute later, Krieger chipped the puck out of the Cortland defensive zone to Humphrey to start another breakaway, and Humphrey sniped a shot for the fifth Red Dragon goal to lead 5-1 at the intermission.

Curry attempted to mount a comeback early in the second period, but the Red Dragons were able to keep the Colonels off the board, backed by nine saves from Mobley in the period. Krieger found the back of the net with a slap shot from the slot that was partially saved by the goaltender but trickled over the goal line to make it 6-1 at the intermission.

Cortland made it 7-1 less than three minutes into the third period, with Humphrey finding Krieger with a feed at the blue line, before Krieger skated around a defender and finished into the net for his second goal of the game.

Curry scored the next two goals of the period to reduce the deficit to four, but committed a five-minute major in a scrum immediately following the second goal that led to a combined 18 penalty minutes between the teams.

Cortland took advantage of the power play, with Seitz ripping a wrist shot from the right circle for the final tally with 1:46 remaining. Berke and Anthony Bernardo (Hauppage/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders) recorded assists on the goal, with Bernardo's assist giving him 50 career points.   
 
Score by periods:
Cortland               5-1-2      8
Curry                     1-0-2      3

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Nate Berke 2-2, Garrett Krieger 2-1, Colby Seitz 2-0, Conor Humphrey 1-1, Nathan Garnier 0-2, Sam Christiano 1-0, Justin Legault 0-1, Evan Beaudry 0-1, Nick Serior 0-1
Curry: Taurin Haddon-Harris 1-1, Gage Dill 1-0, Eelis Laaksonen 1-0, Manny Cabral 0-1, Killian Rowlee 0-1, Alex Duncan 0-1, Victor Daigneault 0-1

Saves: Ronan Mobley (Cortland) 17 saves (3 GA in 60:00); Shane Soderwall (Curry) 9 saves (6 GA in 34:01); Cam Smith (Curry) 6 saves (2 GA in 25:59)

Shots on goal: Cortland 23 (12-6-5), Curry 20 (5-9-6)
Penalties: Curry 6-23:00, Cortland 4-8:00
Power Play: Cortland 1-4, Curry 0-2

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 6-2, Curry (Colonels) 7-2 (ranked fifth nationally in Division III)