In a SUNYAC matchup at Grady Field, the Cortland men’s lacrosse team secured a 13-6 victory over Geneseo, highlighted by a defensive stand that held Geneseo scoreless for a significant stretch, holding Geneseo scoreless for nearly twenty-five in-game minutes.
Cortland’s offensive charge was led by Ryan Scanlon, who racked up a game-high five points with three goals and two assists. Scanlon was able to spark Cortland’s offense throughout the game.
“The offense felt like it was flowing well throughout the game,” said Scanlon. “There were a few mistakes that we made offensively that we could have capitalized and scored some more goals, but we’ll fix that at practice to make sure we don’t miss those opportunities next time they come our way.”
Klay Stuver contributed three goals, while Caden Yancey and Nick Stoecker each scored twice. The scoring was rounded out by Sam Rothman, Matt Franzoni, and Ryan Eccles adding a goal apiece.
“I thought that we were able to get good opportunities with our ball movement,” said Stuver. “Offensively we were quickly able to adapt to their defense when they switched from man-to-man to zone, and that helped us immensely.
Travis Wagner played a crucial role in the goal, registering 11 saves and 3 ground balls, while Aidan McHugh had 8 wins at the faceoff “X”. Christian Lembo, Connor Gallagher, and Alex Thrasher made key contributions on defense, with multiple caused turnovers each.
“I felt like the defense got out and into the hands of the guys they were defending,” said Wagner. “This made it difficult for Geneseo to complete passes and start the offense, which killed their offensive flow.”
Jimmy Atkinson scored two goals to lead Geneseo’s offense. Brady Sulivan, Kevin Mouton, Robert Boniello, and William McCumiskey all contributed a goal. Despite BB Syrup’s dominance, going 14-22 in faceoffs, and Andrew Tittmann’s 16 saves in goal, Geneseo was unable to sustain possession and take advantage of scoring opportunities.
Cortland seized control early as they were able to establish a 4-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, and extended the lead to 7-2 by halftime, as they shut out Geneseo in the second quarter. The Red Dragons continued to dominate as they built up an 11-2 lead late in the third quarter.
Although Geneseo managed to break their scoring drought with a man-up goal with 51 seconds left in the third, Cortland maintained a commanding lead and closed the quarter up 12-3. Despite a few goals from Geneseo in the fourth quarter, Cortland was able to secure the victory 13-6.
Cortland’s dominance was evident in the game statistics, as they outshot Geneseo 48 to 45 and won the ground ball battle 43-25. Additionally, Cortland forced more turnovers with 13 to Geneseo’s 10. Geneseo committed 28 turnovers as opposed to Cortland’s 21, and this was a problem for the team.
With this win, Cortland moves to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the SUNYAC conference, while Geneseo falls to 5-4 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Cortland will look to build on this victory as they continue their season, aiming for further success in the SUNYAC. They face Rochester Institute of Technology Wed 03/27.