CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Morrisville men's hockey team broke a 3-3 tie with a third-period short-handed goal and sealed the win with a late empty-net power-play goal in defeating Cortland, 5-3, Saturday night in SUNYAC action at Alumni Arena.

The red Dragons, who fought back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game, dropped to 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the conference. The Mustangs improved to 4-3 and 4-2.

Junior Logan Blaser (Aurora, ON/Brockville Braves), sophomore Ethan Homitz (Allison Park, PA/New Hampshire Monarchs) and freshman Luca Esposito (Bolton, ON/Markham Royals) each netted goals for Cortland. Senior Douglas Elgstam (Stockholm, Sweden/New Jersey Rockets), juniors Louis DiMatteo (Nobleton, ON/Trenton Golden Hawks), Tommy Ritchie (Spencerport/New York PAL Islanders) and Scott Docherty (Oakville, ON/Georgetown Raiders) and sophomores Hayden Hart (Potsdam/Smith Falls Bears) and Jacob Gaydos (Sandusky, OH/Wisconsin Rapid Riverkings) collected one assist apiece.

Senior Nick Modica (Suffern/New Jersey Hitmen) started in goal for the Red Dragons, making 18 saves in 29:21 before leaving the game due to injury. Freshman Luca Durante (Brampton, ON/Aurora Tigers) stopped seven shots in 29:47.

Freshman Jestin Somero (New Ipswich, NH/Charlotte Rush) recorded two goals and one assist for Morrisville. Senior Nick DeVito (Averill Park/Wellington Dukes) tallied a game-high four points on one goal and three assists. Senior Ryan Bochert (Denver, CO/Hampton Roads Whalers) and sophomore Ben Sprague (Norfolk/Syracuse Jr. Stars) each scored a goal, and freshman James Boisvert (Mansfield, TX/Vermont Lumberjacks) chipped in with two assists. Senior goalie Jared Young (Pueblo West, CO/Dells Ducks) registered 36 saves.

The Mustangs built a 3-0 lead late into the second period on a first-period even-strength goal and two extra-man scores in the second period. Homitz made it a 3-1 game at 18:14 of the second on the power play, Blaser pulled Cortland to within 3-2 just 15 seconds into the third period and Esposito tied the score at 5:47.

Less than two minutes later, Sprague scored the game winner on a short-handed breakaway, and Bochert iced the game on the power play with 20 seconds after Cortland pulled Durante for an extra skater while down a man.

Morrisville St. 5, Cortland 3

Score by periods:
Morrisville St.    1-2-2    5
Cortland            0-1-2    3

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists)
Morrisville St.: Jestin Somero 2-1, Nick DeVito 1-3, Ben Sprague 1-0, Ryan Bochert 1-0, James Boisvert 0-2, Aidan Connolly 0-1
Cortland: Ethan Homitz 1-0, Logan Blaser 1-0, Luca Esposito 1-0, Hayden Hart 0-1, Louis DiMatteo 0-1, Douglas Elgstam 0-1, Tommy Ritchie 0-1, Scott Docherty 0-1, Jacob Gaydos 0-1

Saves: Jared Young (Morrisville St.) 36 saves (3 GA in 60:00); Nick Modica (Cortland) 18 saves (2 GA in 29:21), Luca Durante (Cortland) 7 saves (2 GA in29:47), Empty Net 1 GA in :52
Shots on Goal: Cortland 39 (13-10-16), Morrisville St. 30 (12-14-4)
Penalties: Cortland 5-10:00, Morrisville St. 5-10:00
Power Play: Morrisville St. 3-4, Cortland 1-4

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 3-6, 2-5 SUNYAC; Morrisville St. (Mustangs) 4-3, 4-2 SUNYAC