CORTLAND, NY – Graduate student
Diego Rivera (East Meadow/Cairo-Durham) scored a goal in each half, and
Jake Hutter (Smithtown/Smithtown West) also tallied a goal, as the nationally 11th-ranked Cortland men's soccer team opened up the 2026 season with a 3-0 victory over Rochester on Tuesday evening on Holloway Field. Cortland is 1-0 on the year, while Rochester is 0-1.
Rivera, a transfer from Buffalo State where he was a two-time All-American, netted his two goals on a team-high five shot attempts, including three shots on goal. Hutter scored on his lone shot attempt in the contest.
Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker) provided a pair of assists, while
Shay Daly (Elwood/John Glenn) provided an assist.
Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) stopped three shots in goal for the shutout victory.
Rochester goalkeeper Aidan Hartman made one save, while three different players had a shot on goal for the Yellowjackets.
Rochester controlled possession for much of the opening 15 minutes. The Yellowjackets registered four shot attempts, including one shot from distance by Mikey Burke that struck off the top of the crossbar as the greatest scoring threat.
Cortland slowly started to gain a foothold into the game over the next passage of play, including a shot by
Jack Pachla (Grand Island) that spun just over the crossbar in the 28th minute.
Rivera put the Red Dragons ahead in the 39th minute, starting the break with a pass down the right side to Brant, who then dribbled towards the end line and crossed a perfect pass back to the left post for a tap-in by Rivera to send Cortland to a 1-0 lead.
Rochester nearly equalized just before halftime, but a shot by Sebastian Ballesteros in the final minute hit off the crossbar.
Cortland needed just 35 seconds into the second half to double its lead. Brant received a pass just outside the 18-yard box and slid the ball over to Hutter, who took one dribble towards goal and slipped a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Ballesteros forced Ott into making his first save of the contest in the 63rd minute, a comfortable stop in the center of the goal on a shot from distance. Ott followed with a pair of more difficult saves over the next ten minutes, using strong hands to deny Johnny Makula after a sliding save to stop Milos Bisenic just a minute earlier.
Rivera added his second goal of the game in the 73rd minute to complete the scoring, heading a shot into the right side of the goal after a cross from the right on a free kick by Daly.
The Cortland defense was able to shut Rochester down over the remainder of the game, not allowing a shot attempt in the final 20 minutes, to secure the victory.
