Cortland defeats Gettysburg 14-8

Video: Cortland Coach Steve Beville comments on today's game

Game Photos

MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. – Cortland outscored Gettysburg 6-0 in the third quarter to pull away from a halftime tie and the nationally third-ranked Red Dragons defeated the second-ranked Bullets, 14-8, in front of a standing-room only crowd at John J. Burns Park. Cortland improved to 3-0 with the victory and earned its first win in six tries versus the Bullets. Gettysburg is 1-2 this spring.

Junior Brian Krol (Niskayuna) led Cortland with four goals and one assist and sophomore Chris DeLuca (Sayville) scored three goals. DeLuca also won 9-of-13 faceoffs. Sophomore Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields) added two goals and one assist and senior Joey Morgan (Putnam Valley) scored once and assisted on two goals. Senior Matt Hipenbecker (Mountain Lakes, NJ) made six saves in goal.

Zach Pucci (Ridgewood, NJ) and Kyle McGrath (Randolph, NJ) led Gettysburg with two goals apiece. Joe Brody (Bethesda, MD/Walter Johnson) and Tom O'Donnell (Montgomeryville, PA/La Salle College) finished with one goal and one assist each and Zach Furshman (Miami, FL/Kent School (CT)) recorded 12 saves.

The teams were tied 5-5 at the half. Gettysburg scored three straight goals to erase an early 2-0 Cortland lead, and Pucci's man-up goal with 2:35 left in the half tied the game.

Cortland came out on fire in the third quarter, however, and outshot the Bullets 12-3 in the period. DeLuca scored 21 seconds into the quarter, assisted by Morgan, followed by a Krol tally 1:15 into the stanza. DiStefano found the net with 11:41 left, set up by Krol, then Krol scored 1:20 later off a Morgan assist. Cody Hoyt (Babylon) added a goal at the 9:51 mark off a Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) assist and Zack Mulvaney (Deferiet/Carthage) closed out the third quarter with a goal at the 2:50 mark, set up by DiStefano.

The lead grew to 12-5 on a Krol score 2:50 into the third period. Gettysburg made a brief surge with three goals in a 44-second span, the last by O'Donnell with 5:44 remaining to cut the Cortland lead to 12-8. Krol and Morgan, however, scored in the final three minutes to complete the scoring.

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MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. – SUNY Cortland ran off seven unanswered goals over the opening 17:50 of the second half, breaking open a close game as the third-ranked Red Dragons held off a late Gettysburg rally, earning a 14-8 victory over the No. 2 Bullets Saturday afternoon at John J. Burns Park.

The game was played at a neutral site location on Long Island and drew a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 1,000 spectators.

Brian Krol paced Cortland (3-0) with four goals and an assist while Chris DeLuca added three goals. Joey Morgan contributed two goals and two assists.

Gettysburg (1-2), playing a top-10 opponent for the second time in four days, was led by senior Zach Pucci (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) and junior Kyle McGrath (Randolph, N.J./Randolph), who scored two goals apiece.

With the game tied 5-5 at halftime, the Red Dragons reeled off five goals over the first 5:09 of the quarter. The Bullets blanked Cortland over the remainder of the period until Zach Mulvaney scored with 2:50 left, making it a six-goal game heading into the fourth quarter.

Krol capped Cortland's run when he scored 2:50 into the final period to push his team's lead to 12-5. That's how the score remained until the Bullets caught fire midway through the stanza, scoring three times over a 44-second span. Junior Joe Brody (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) sparked the run, scoring off a feed from senior Rob Triplett (McLean, Va./McLean) with 6:28 left. Sophomore Matt Griffo (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) followed up with an outstanding play, forcing a turnover near midfield, then scoring in transition to make it a 12-7 game with 5:58 left.

The Bullets struck again just 14 seconds later, as senior Tom O'Donnell (Montgomeryville, Pa./La Salle College) scooped up a loose ball off the face-off and outraced the defense before scoring his third goal of the season, pulling Gettysburg to within four with 5:44 remaining.

Cortland won the next face-off, but senior Zach Furshman (Miami, Fla./Kent School [Conn.]) came up with a save with 4:38 on the clock. However, the Bullets committed a turnover on their ensuing possession, and Krol sealed the Dragons victory when he scored his final goal with 2:26 left. Morgan set the final tally with a goal at the 1:52 mark.

Furshman finished with 12 saves for Gettysburg while Matt Hipenbecker stopped six shots for Cortland.

The Dragons out-shot the Bullets 35-26 and won 15-of-26 face-offs. Cortland was whistled for 11 penalties, but allowed only two man-up goals.

Cortland also started the first half strong, scoring twice over the opening 1:07. DeLuca won the opening face-off, picked up the ground ball, and raced downfield before scoring 16 seconds into the contest. Tom Burke followed up with a goal 51 seconds later to give the Red Dragon an early 2-0 advantage.

The Bullets answered midway through the half, however, scoring three straight goals to assume a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. McGrath punched in both of his goals over a 3:34 span to tie the game with 3:21 showing, and junior Josh Reichert (Englewood, Colo./Kent School) converted in a man-up situation with 2:23 left in the opening quarter.

DeLuca pulled Cortland even with a man-up goal of his own 2:24 into the second quarter before Pucci put the Bullets back in front 44 seconds later. After the Dragons scored back-to-back goals midway through the period, Pucci converted on a two-man advantage with 2:35 to go, tying the game 5-5 at the half.

Cortland was whistled for eight of its penalties in the opening half.

Gettysburg returns home on Wednesday, when it hosts Ohio Wesleyan at 2:00 p.m. in another non-conference outing.

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Team (Record) 1-2-3-4 Final
Cortland (3-0) 2-3-6-3 - 14
Gettysburg (1-2) 3-2-0-3 - 8

Scoring (Goals-Assists):

Cortland: Brian Krol 4-1, Chris DeLuca 3-0, Jay DiStefano 2-1, Joey Morgan 1-2, Justin Schneidman 1-0, Zack Mulvaney 1-0, Cody Hoyt 1-0, Tom Burke 1-0, Mike Tota 0-2, Greg Wright 0-2

Gettysburg: Zach Pucci 2-0, Kyle McGrath 2-0, Joe Brody 1-1, Tom O'Donnell 1-1, Matt Griffo 1-0, Josh Reichert 1-0, Rob Triplett 0-2, Drew Duckworth 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Matt Hipenbecker, 6 saves (8 GA in 60:00)
Gettysburg: Zach Furshman, 12 saves (14 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 35, Gettysburg 26
Ground Balls: Cortland 36, Gettysburg 31
Clears: Cortland 20-of-22, Gettysburg 18-of-21
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 15, Gettysburg 11
Penalties: Cortland 11-9:00, Gettysburg 4-2:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 1-4, Gettysburg 2-8