The SUNY Cortland Men’s Hockey Team faced some hard battles but stayed strong through a tough 2023 season. Finishing fourth in the SUNYAC Conference is no small feat and the Red Dragons stood their ground with the best of the division. Unfortunately their season was cut short in the first round of the SUNYAC playoffs against Buffalo State after beating them in the regular season.
The Dragons went 16-9-1 for their overall season record, with an 11-5 record in their conference. They started off strong in the conference season by beating Potsdam in their first conference game 7-1. After that they fell into a bit of a rough patch with a 3 game lose streak, however they made a comeback with 4 conference wins in a row, beating strong opponents in Brockport, Geneseo, Morrisville, and Fredonia. After that, they locked in 7 more conference wins and only one loss.
Even though the Red Dragons are losing a majority of their team, and some crucial members, they’ll be bringing back a decent amount of players that will lead the team far.
Starting with Colby Seitz, a freshman forward who just had an amazing season. He received rookie of the year for the SUNYAC division and made the All-Rookie team. He had a total of 23 points this season out of 52 shots and was an integral part of the team’s offense this season. The future is definitely bright for Seitz as we wait to see what else he can accomplish in his time here.
Sophomore Johnny Facchini is another team leader, but on the defensive side. He’s played a huge role in his last two seasons to help guard the net and has also put up some points as a defense man as well. He did have an injury at one point or another during the season which limited his playing time, but if his next season is anything like his 2022-2023 breakout season, then The Red Dragon defense will be in good hands with Facchini on the ice.
“It’s going to be tough adjusting to all the seniors leaving, but we have a ton of guys who now get their chance to show everyone what they got, and a lot of them can make things happen on the ice,” said Facchini.
Another Key player on the offensive side is forward Nate Berke. He hasn’t yet established himself as a top scorer, However he’s a great co forward to have on the ice. He is very much a team player and makes plenty of assists. He knows how to move the puck around and set it up so that somebody can get the point. His selflessness on the Ice will definitely benefit the Cortland offense and allow for more open passes and big plays to be made.
Lastly, We have Jack Reidell at goalie. With Cortland losing their starting goalie in Luca Durante, the Red Dragons will be looking for somebody to fill his shoes, and these are not small shoes to fill. However, Reidell has already proven to everyone that he is an amazing assisting goalie and has filled in for Durante at times throughout the last season. He will be more than capable in filling in the role and keeping the Cortland goal locked down.
These four guys are just a few of the great players coming back next year that will hopefully lead the Dragons far.
”It’s going to be a process to adapt to the new lineup for next season, but we’re not worried,” said sophomore Andrew Clifford. “We have guys who are great players waiting for their time on the ice and it’s going to be cool to see them finally get their time in. Whatever we get thrown into next year we’ll be prepared.”
With Cortland ranked fourth in their conference, they are in a great spot to make something big happen next year. If they continue to grow and hone in on their game, they will likely put up numbers and cause some upsets.