The Cortland men’s lacrosse team defeated the Golden Eagles 11-10 in a fiercely contested game on Saturday afternoon in SUNYAC play in Brockport. A late-game charge by the Red Dragons, who scored the game’s final two goals to secure the victory highlighted the game.
Both sides traded goal runs during the back-and-forth play that defined the contest. After Cortland jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, Brockport mounted a comeback to take a 3-2 lead at the half. The Golden Eagles battled back to take the lead with a three-goal run of their own after the Red Dragons answered with three goals in a row to start the second quarter. Three seconds before halftime, Klay Stuver knotted the score at six.
“It was tough to get the flow going on the offensive side of the ball throughout the game,” said Stuver. “Thankfully we just out gritted them and were able to secure the conference game victory.”
In the third quarter, Cortland grabbed command, outscoring Brockport 2-0 to establish an 8-6 lead. The Red Dragons lead was increased by Sam Rothman’s early goal in the fourth quarter, but Brockport rallied, scoring four goals in a row to take a 10-9 lead with about 5:21 left.
Stuver once again showed his clutch play, scoring a goal at 3:41 to tie the score at 10-10. With 2:14 left, Caden Yacney scored his fourth of the match, feeding Scanlon, to give Cortland the victory. Brockport had a late opportunity as the game was in the last minute, but Cortland’s defense held strong to win 11-10.
““Going into the game we thought we were going to have a cake walk,” said Yancey. “I give a lot of props to Brockport for punching us in the mouth when we stepped on the field and giving us a tough game for all 60 minutes.”
Cortland’s offensive leader, with an astounding six points on four goals and two assists, was Yancey. Stefan Swedlund scored three goals, which was a career-high effort from the freshman. Both Rothman and Stuver contributed two goals apiece, and Nick Stoeker and Ryan Scanlon provided crucial assists.
Travis Wagner, the Red Dragon’s starting goalie, was an exceptional player, leading the defense with 17 saves. Adain McHugh helped out at the “faceoff X” with eight victories and three ground balls to provide key possession for the Dragon’s offense that they were able to capitalize and score off of.
“The game definitely caught us off guard and felt like it was a trap game,” said Wagner. “It was nice to see the boys come together and earn a hard fought victory to keep us undefeated in conference play.”
Nick Askin scored three goals to lead Brockport’s offensive attack, while his brother Nate Askin contributed two goals and two assists. Daniel Wright added one goal and one assist, but in spite of everything the Golden Eagles did, they weren’t able to come away with the victory.
Cortland’s victory highlights their strength in SUNYAC competition, and they will aim to keep this momentum as the season progresses. Brockport, on the other hand, will try to gather themselves and move onto the next game, looking for a win.