CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally fourth-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team scored the first seven goals of the game and went on to defeat Potsdam, 16-3, in the championship game of the 2011 SUNYAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday afternoon at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons won their 11th consecutive game, improving to 15-2 on the season, and earned an automatic NCAA Div. III playoff berth with the victory. The Bears, playing in their first-ever men's lacrosse conference title game, fell to 8-9.

Eleven different players scored goals for Cortland, led by senior Tournament Most Valuable Player Chris DeLuca (Sayville) with a game-high four goals. DeLuca also won 9-of-10 faceoffs. Freshman Joe Slavik (Binghamton/Seton Catholic) paced all players with five points on three goals and two assists. Junior Greg Wright (Irondequoit/West Irondequoit) contributed one goal and two assists, while seniors Jay DiStefano (Huntington/Harborfields) and Pat Hayes (Mastic/Eastport South Manor) and juniors Zack Mulvaney (Deferiet/Carthage) and Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) each had one goal and one assist. 

Hayes also recorded a game-high seven ground balls, and freshman Brian Winterfeldt (Merrick/Calhoun) scooped up six. Freshman goalie Scott Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) made six saves and allowed two goals through three quarters before being replaced by sophomore Mike Kaminski (Sayville), who surrendered one goal and stopped one shot in the fourth quarter.

Junior Peter Pike (Watertown/General Brown) led the Bears with one goal and one assist. Seniors Kevin Green (Penfield) and Sean McAuliffe (Watertown) each netted a goal with sophomore Kyle Nicholas (Syracuse/Westhill) chipping in with an assist. Senior goalie Pat Corbine (Canton/Hugh C. Williams) registered 16 saves in 48 minutes, 45 seconds. Sophomore Stefan Sloma (Niskayuna) played the final 11:15, stopping two shots.

Cortland jumped out to a 6-0 lead after one quarter on the strength of two goals each from DeLuca and Slavik and one apiece from Wright and Tota. DeLuca pushed the lead to 7-0 with a man-up goal 46 seconds into the second quarter. McAuliffe put Potsdam on the scoreboard less than two minutes later off an assist from Pike. Slavik and Mulvaney gave the Red Dragons a 9-1 lead with goals at 8:35 and 4:09, respectively, before Pike closed the half with a goal at 2:03.

Cortland's lead grew to 13-2 through three quarters as four different players found the back of the net, and the Red Dragons eventually built a 16-2 lead with the first three goals of the fourth quarter. Green finished the scoring on a man-up goal with 16 seconds remaining in the game for the final of 16-3.

Joining DeLuca on the All-Tournament Team were Slavik, Winterfeldt and seniors Shane Crossett (Camillus/West Genesee) and Eric Parah (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) from Cortland; Pike, sophomore Robbie Ashlaw (North Syracuse/Cicero-Norrth Syracuse) and junior Rashaun Durden (Buffalo/Williamsville East) from Potsdam; Craig Lange and John Felix from Geneseo; and Mike Sanderson and Jon Fiorillo from The College at Brockport.   

Cortland 16, Potsdam 3

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                        1-2-3-4        Final
Potsdam (8-9)        0-2-0-1            3
Cortland (14-2)       6-3-4-3          16

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Potsdam: Peter Pike 1-1, Kevin Green 1-0, Sean McAuliffe 1-0, Kyle Nicholas 0-1 
Cortland: Chris DeLuca 4-0, Joe Slavik 3-2, Greg Wright 1-2, Mike Tota 1-1, Jay DiStefano 1-1, Pat Hayes 1-1, Zack Mulvaney 1-1, Thomas Casey 1-0, Cody Consul 1-0, Mark Panneton 1-0, Matt DiMarco 1-0, Brian Winterfeldt 0-1, Vincent Brites 0-1, Sam Dutkowsky 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Potsdam: Pat Corbine, 16 saves (15 GA in 48:45), Stefan Sloma, 2 saves (1 GA in 11:15)
Cortland: Scott Tota, 6 saves (2 GA in 45:00), Mike Kaminski, 1 save (1 GA in 15:00)

Shots: Cortland 55, Potsdam 15 
Ground Balls: Cortland 45, Potsdam 25 
Turnovers: Potsdam 19, Cortland 16
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 11, Potsdam 1
Clears: Cortland 18-of-19, Potsdam 19-of-22 
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 16, Potsdam 6
Penalties: Cortland 5-5:00, Potsdam 5-4:30
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 2-5, Potsdam 1-5