WASHINGTON, D.C. – Matt Shultz (Oneonta) scored his fourth and fifth goals of the season, and Mateo Marra (Ossining) netted his second game-winning goal of the year, as the nationally-13th ranked Cortland men's soccer team claimed a 3-1 win over Catholic University while playing down a man for the final 74 minutes on Friday evening on the opening day of the Turk Emekli Classic. Cortland is now 4-0-0 to begin the season, the first time since 2016 that the Red Dragons have opened with four consecutive victories. Catholic dropped to 1-2-0 on the year with the defeat.

Shultz has scored in all four games this season for Cortland, and moved into the top-five in program history for career goals scored, as the senior has now found the back of the net 30 times in his Cortland career. Marra scored his second goal of the season on his lone attempt on target. Stalyn Acosta (Brentwood) recorded an assist for the Red Dragons, while Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, T.X./Southwest Christian) turned aside four shots in goal for Cortland.

Holden Woodings scored a goal for the Cardinals, while Ben Zimmer and Hayden Lim picked up assists on the goal.

The Red Dragons started quickly, scoring their quickest goal of the season 11 minutes into the contest, as Shultz finished into the center of the net off of an assist by Acosta. Just five minutes later, the game took a turn when defender Alex Lessman (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage) was shown a red card.

Catholic took advantage of the extra player in the 28th minute, with Woodings netting the equalizer for the hosts. For the rest of the half after going down a man, Cortland had just one shot attempt, which was off target. The shorthanded Red Dragons did well to allow just one shot on target over the final 15 minutes of the half, which Ott was able to save to keep the game tied into halftime.

In the 55th minute, Marra broke the tie, finishing into the upper right corner of the net to re-establish the Red Dragons' advantage. Ryan Kelly tested Ott with a shot into the bottom left corner in the 65th minute, but the junior goalkeeper was up to the challenge with a save.

Jack Sargeant (Mineola) hit the crossbar with a shot in the 73rd minute with a chance to give Cortland a two-goal cushion. Just four minutes later, Shultz netted the insurance goal that the Red Dragons were looking for, finishing low and into the center of the goal.

Over the final five minutes of action, Ott made two saves to secure the victory for Cortland.

Cortland 3, Catholic 1

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Matt Shultz 2-0, Mateo Marra 1-0, Josh Carroll 0-1
Catholic: Holden Woodings 1-0, Ben Zimmer 0-1, Hayden Lim 0-1 Halftime: Cortland 1, Catholic 1

Shots: Catholic 14, Cortland 7
Corner Kicks: Catholic 7, Cortland 1
Fouls: Catholic 13, Cortland 10

Saves: Jordan Ott (Cortland) 4 saves (1 GA in 90:00), Owen Allegro (Catholic) 1 saves (3 GA in 90:00)

Record after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 4-0-0 (ranked 13th nationally in Div. III); Catholic (Cardinals) 1-2-0