BUFFALO, NY – The nationally 18th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team scored three times in the second half, and won its second consecutive State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title with a 3-1 victory on the road at top-seeded and nationally 17th-ranked Buffalo State on Saturday evening. Cortland moves to 15-3-5 on the year, while Buffalo State falls to 14-2-3. 
 
With the win, Cortland earns the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division tournament, with seedings to be announced at 1:30 p.m. on Monday. 
 
Mateo Marra (Ossining), Stalyn Acosta (Brentwood), Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian), and Alex Lessman (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage) were selected to the All-Tournament Team, while Marra was chosen as the MVP.
 
Marra led Cortland with a goal and an assist, scoring for the third straight game and finishing the conference championship tournament with four goals and an assist in three games. 
 
Acosta scored the opening goal for Cortland, also his first collegiate goal, while Matt Shultz (Oneonta) netted what proved to be the game-winning goal. Ott made six saves in goal for Cortland. 
 
Diego Rivera scored the lone goal for Buffalo State, while Shae Wirt made six saves for the Bengals. 
 
Cortland came out strong to start the game, firing three shots on target in the opening 15 minutes that Wirt was able to save. The last of the three came from Marra in the 14th minute, and requiring a diving stop by the Buffalo State keeper. 
 
In the 20th minute, Yasin Choukri (Wilton, CT) rang a shot from distance off of the crossbar and out, and Marra had another shot go off the left post in the 44th minute as the game stayed scoreless into halftime. 
 
Cortland broke the deadlock in the 47th minute, as Acosta was able to get his head to Marra's cross from the left side, redirecting it past Wirt into the bottom right corner of the net. 
 
The Red Dragons wasted little time doubling their advantage, as Shultz found himself alone on goal after a strong pass from Cade Denlinger (Elizabethtown, PA/Elizabethtown Area), and Shultz was able to send a shot past Wirt to make it 2-0 in the 51st minute. 
 
Buffalo State pressed forward, and pulled to within a goal with 25 minutes remaining, as Rivera snuck a shot inside the left post from about 20 yards out.
 
The Bengals continued to push forward over the following minutes, but Cortland was able to withstand the pressure and hold Buffalo State out. 
 
In the 81st minute, Cortland added an insurance goal from the penalty spot after Muiz Bayewu  (Lagos, Nigeria/Albany, NY) got in behind the Buffalo State defense and was dragged down inside of the box. Marra drilled his penalty kick down the right-center of the goal as Wirt dove to the left. 
 
Ott made one final save in the last 10 minutes, and the Bengals had one shot go off of the crossbar, as Cortland secure the win. 
 
Following the contest, Cortland's Logan Comfort (Cazenovia) was honored as the conference's Elite 20 winner.The SUNYAC Elite 20 award, modeled after the NCAA ELITE 90 program, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the conference championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers.
 
Comfort is a senior business economics major with a 3.96 overall GPA.
 
The full All-Tournament Team is below:
AJ Lucas, Oneonta
Joe Holder, Oneonta
Bryan Lizama, New Paltz
Alex Wyant, New Paltz
Diego River, Buffalo State
Sam Gregson, Buffalo State
Manu Prieto, Buffalo State
Jordan Ott, Cortland
Stalyn Acosta, Cortland
Alex Lessman, Cortland
MVP - Mateo Marra, Cortland
 
Cortland 3, Buffalo State 1
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Mateo Marra 1-1, Stalyn Acosta 1-0, Matt Shultz 1-0, Cade Denlinger 0-1
Buffalo State: Diego Rivera

Halftime: Cortland 0, Buffalo State 0
Shots: Cortland 16, Buffalo State 15
Corner Kicks: Cortland 5, Buffalo State 1
Saves: Jordan Ott (Cortland) 6 saves (1 GA in 90:00); Shae Wirt (Buffalo State) 6 saves (3 GA in 90:00)

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 15-3-5 (ranked 18th nationally in Division III), Buffalo State (Bengals) 14-2-3 (ranked 17th nationally in Division III)