By Cali Brancato
Cortland men’s lacrosse got an early wake-up call to open preseason, falling 13-3 to Union College in a scrimmage on Friday.
The Red Dragon defense opened strong, holding Union scoreless in the first quarter. However, momentum shifted early in the second as the Chargers scored three quick goals.
With Cortland on their heels, they were able to put two goals in the back of the net ending the half with a tight score of 4-2.
One of Cortland’s captains, sophomore defender James Sullivan, emphasized the importance of staying composed early in the season.
“We weren’t able to finish plays on defense, which allowed them to jump to a commanding lead and control the game early in the second half,” said Sullivan.
As one of the team’s captains, Sullivan plays a key role in anchoring a defense that features both returning starters and newer contributors. He said leadership during the preseason is focused on maintaining confidence and setting standards in practice.
With the season still in its early stages, Cortland has time before their next game to build on lessons from Fridays scrimmage.
“Nobody has hit the panic button at all, and everybody is excited to get back to work,” said Sullivan. “A big thing we have to work on is playing better team defense overall.”
Cortland got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when junior midfielder Liam Burns scored to make it 4-1. On a man-up possession just before half-time, sophomore midfielder Mason Caroll netted another goal for the Red Dragons. Sophomore midfielder Eli Volk capped Cortland’s scoring with a goal late in the fourth quarter.
Union controlled much of the second half, going on a scoring run and widening the gap as Cortland struggled to regain momentum.
Face-offs and possession played a major role in the outcome, as Union controlled the ball for long stretches and limited Cortland’s opportunities to establish a consistent offensive rhythm.
Volk was one of the three goal scorers for Cortland.
“The offense needs to move the ball faster and move off ball instead of being stagnant,” said Volk, “We also need to possess the ball after we have been on defense for long periods of time to give our defenders a chance to breathe” Volk also said.
Cortland entered preseason looking to build on last year’s postseason run, which ended in a 14-5 quarter final loss to RIT in the NCAA Division III tournament, while also integrating players into new roles.
Despite the early preseason setback, senior captain Dino Bowen said the team remains focused on daily improvement.
“Our team shows up to practice every day, no matter what time or the weather, with a clear head and one goal, to be 1% better than yesterday,” said Bowen.
Cortland men’s lacrosse will test itself again this Saturday with a home scrimmage against Pace University.
Against Pace, Cortland will look to improve its team defense and generate more consistent offensive movement. The scrimmage will also give the Red Dragons a chance to measure progress just one week after their opening preseason test.