CORTLAND, NY – Josh Carroll (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) tied the game in the 71st minute, and the nationally 13th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team played to a 1-1 tie against Buffalo State in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Saturday on Holloway Field. Cortland is now 8-1-4 (3-0-2 SUNYAC), while Buffalo State suffers its first blemish in conference play and is 11-1-1 (4-0-1 SUNYAC).
 
Carroll's goal was his team-leading seventh goal of the season, and Shay Daly (Elwood/John Glenn) provided the helper on the goal for his first assist as a Red Dragon. Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) made three saves in goal for Cortland.
 
Diego Rivera scored the lone Buffalo State goal and led the Bengals with five attempts and two shots on target. Carson Smith made three saves in goal for Buffalo State.
 
In the second minute, Buffalo State's Zaccaria Gerosa fired a shot from the right side of the 18-yard area towards the corner of the Cortland goal, but Ott came up with a diving save to deny the opportunity.
 
Buffalo State struck first in the ninth minute, as Rivera fired a low shot from just inside the penalty area that Ott was unable to handle, and the ball bounced into the bottom left corner of the net. The goal ended Cortland's school-record shutout streak at 738:41 of game action, dating back to Sept. 10.
 
Alberto Reyes (New Canaan, CT) had his free-kick shot in the 29th minute save well to Smith's right to prevent the Red Dragons from getting the equalizer.
 
Cortland looked to have equalized in the 38th minute when Jake Hutter (Smithtown/Smithtown West) slotted a shot into the bottom right corner of the net, but the assistant referee raised his flag for offsides and the goal was disallowed.
 
In the final seconds of the first half, Sam LaMendola (Buffalo/Williamsville South) rifled a shot just wide of the right post, as Buffalo State maintained a 1-0 lead into halftime.
 
In the opening minute of the second half, Bruno Baez (White Plains/Iona Prep) had a shot from the center of the 18-yard area blocked away, and Smith made a diving save to his right in the 52nd minute to stop a shot from Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker) that was heading towards the top left corner of the net.
 
Carroll subbed back into the game in the 64th minute, and Daly came on in the 67th minute, and the pair connected to tie the game shortly after. Daly received the ball down the right sideline and curled a high cross into the center of the 18-yard area. Carroll was able to direct a header into the right corner of the net past a diving Smith to make it 1-1.
 
The Red Dragons pressed for a winning goal over the next minutes, but were only able to manage one more shot on target, a shot by Jairo Ulloa (Huntington Station/Huntington) that Smith was able to save in the 88th minute, as the game ended in a tie.