The SUNY Cortland men's lacrosse team has earned an automatic berth into the 2026 NCAA Division III playoffs and will host Western New England in a first-round game on Wednesday, May 6, at 4 p.m. on Grady Field in Cortland.
 
The 40-team tournament will begin with eight first-round games on Wednesday. The winner of the game between Cortland (14-5) and Western New England (13-6) will head to Lewiston, Maine to face Bates (11-5) on Saturday as part of a four-team regional for the second and third rounds on May 8-9. The other two teams in the Bates regional are Hope (18-0) and Ithaca (11-6), who will face off in a second-round contest on Saturday.
 
The tournament continues with quarterfinal and semifinal games May 16-17, and the national championship game is May 24 at the University of Virginia's Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.
 
Cortland, under eighth-year head coach Lelan Rogers, will be making its second straight trip to the NCAA tournament and 39th overall, including 32 on the Division III level. The Red Dragons also played in every national tournament during Rogers' first stint as head coach at Cortland for five seasons from 2001-05.
 
Cortland earned its playoff berth by winning its second consecutive State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title with an 18-7 victory over Oneonta in the championship game on Saturday for its 30th conference championship. Tournament MVP Nicky Miltenberger won 32-of-36 faceoffs, collected 19 ground balls, and added two goals and an assist in the conference tournament, while Stefan Swedlund (Randolph, NJ) tallied five goals to break the program record with 60 goals on the season and Nick Stoecker (East Setauket/Ward Melville) added three goals and two assists in the championship game.
 
Western New England earned an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament by winning the Conference of New England (CNE). The Golden Bears won the conference title by defeating Endicott, 10-7, in the championship game behind three goals from Logan Jenkins.
 
Cortland and Western New England will be meeting for the 13th time since 2007, with the Red Dragons winning each of the previous 12 meetings. The sides have also played four times in the national tournament, with Cortland winning 12-10 in the national quarterfinals in 2007, 6-5 in the quarterfinals in 2009, 12-7 in the quarterfinals in 2013, and 13-4 in the first round in 2016.  
 
Cortland has reached the national quarterfinals 16 times in its last 21 tournament appearances, including during last season when the team finished tied for fifth place nationally. The Red Dragons have played in the national championship game five times since 2006, with four straight showings from 2006-09 as well as an appearance in 2012. Cortland won the 2006 national crown versus Salisbury and the 2009 title against Gettysburg. The Red Dragons lost to Salisbury in the national finals in 2007, 2008 and 2012.
 
In addition to its Division III titles in 2006 and 2009, Cortland also won the 1975 NCAA Division II title and the 1973 USILA College Division, a year before the NCAA started sponsoring a championship for Division II. Cortland was national runner-up in the first two NCAA Division III tournaments in 1980 and 1981.