CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally second-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team built an 8-4 lead into the third quarter and held off a furious rally by ninth-ranked Stevens Institute to earn a 10-9 win Saturday night in NCAA Div. III second round action at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons improved to 19-0 on the season and advanced to the national quarterfinals to host 14th-ranked Union College, a 10-4 winner versus Bowdoin, Wednesday at a time to be determined. The Ducks' season ended at 17-3.

Senior Mike Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) led Cortland with six points on two goals and four assists. Sophomore Cody Consul (Webster/Webster Schroeder) recorded two goals and three assists, sophomore Joe Slavik (Binghamton/Seton Catholic) added two goals and one assist and senior Greg Wright (Irondequoit/West Irondequoit) netted a pair of goals. Junior Tylor Mendoza (Greensboro, NC/Western Guilford) had one goal and one assist, senior Eric Richards (Skaneateles) scored once and senior Zack Mulvaney (Deferiet/Carthage) chipped in with an assist.

Junior goalie Mike Kaminski (Sayville) made 12 saves and collected four ground balls. Tota scooped up five ground balls, and senior Matt Hoey (Auburn) and sophomore Doug Meehan (Sayville) each had four. Sophomore Brian Winterfeldt (Merrick/Calhoun) caused three turnovers.

Senior Alex Hofrichter (Terrance Park, OH/Archbishop Moeller) paced the Stevens offense with four goals. Junior Harry Dorne (Morristown, NJ/Delbarton) scored twice, senior Kevin Rose (Garden City) contributed one goal and three assists, junior Rich Dupras (Hillsborough, NJ/Immaculata) had a goal and two assists and junior Nicolas Philippi (Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview) scored once.

Freshman goalie Matthew Deiner (Millstone Township, NJ/CBA) turned aside eight shots in 59 minutes, 45 seconds, and senior Eric Yando (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) did not face a shot in 15 seconds of action. Senior Michael Steinhauser (Boontown Township, NJ/Mountain Lakes) won 14-of-23 faceoffs and collected a game-high seven ground balls. Sophomore Tim Culloty (Mahwah, NJ) led all players with five caused turnovers and had six ground balls. Seniors Matt Marks (Cortland) and Tim Ballai (Kinnelon, NJ) registered five ground balls apiece.

After Consul opened the scoring at 13:17 of the first quarter, the Ducks held possession for nearly six minutes, eventually tying the score on a Dupras goal at 7:15. Tota gave Cortland back the lead at 4:29 before Philippi knotted the score at 2-2 less than a minute later. Dorne then gave Stevens its only lead of the game off a pass from Rose at 1:20 and the Ducks took the 3-2 advantage into the second quarter.

The Red Dragons dominated the second quarter of play, outscoring the Ducks, 3-0, while outshooting their opponent 10-5 through the 15 minutes. Wright tied the game at 3-3 with a man-up goal at 7:31. Cortland won the ensuing faceoff and Tota fed Consul for his second goal just 12 seconds later to give Cortland the lead for good at 4-3. Slavik finished off the scoring in the quarter at 5:32 when he skipped in a shot from 12 yards out and the Red Dragons led 5-3 at the half.

After Wright and Hofrichter traded goals to start the third quarter, Cortland earned its largest lead of the game, 8-4, when Tota tallied his 40th of the season at 6:07 and then assisted Mendoza's score at 4:24. From that point, the Ducks began to chip into the Red Dragons' advantage. Dorne made it an 8-5 game after three quarters on Rose's assist at the 3:54 mark.

In the fourth quarter, Hofrichter scored at 12:58, and Rose poured in an extra-man goal at 11:11 to pull Stevens to within 8-7, setting up a tense finish. Richards bumped the lead back to 9-7 with a quick shot on the right side at 10:14, but Rose set up Hofrichter at 7:29 to
make it a one-goal game again. Slavik answered with his second of the game off Consul's assist at 3:53 and Cortland led 10-8. Steinhauser won the next faceoff and Hofrichter bulled his way for his fourth goal of the night at 3:17, and the Ducks were within one goal again, 10-9.

Stevens won the ensuing faceoff but turned the ball over. The Red Dragons, however, were stripped deep in Stevens' end with 1:30 remaining. The Ducks cleared the ball but Kaminski denied Dorne's shot with 56 seconds remaining. The Red Dragons were able to successfully clear the ball but turned the ball back over to the Ducks with 30 seconds left on the clock. After the Ducks worked the ball into their offensive third, they called timeout with 12 seconds on the clock. After the timeout, Dupras held possession on the right side of the box. As he cut across the middle, Hoey stripped the ball away with just under 10 seconds remaining and the Red Dragons held on for the 10-9 win.

Cortland 10, Stevens 9

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                                 1-2-3-4    Final
Stevens (17-3)                 3-0-2-4      9
Cortland (19-0)                 2-3-3-2     10

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Stevens: Alex Hofrichter 4-0, Harry Dorne 2-0, Kevin Rose 1-3, Rich Dupras 1-2, Nicolas Philippi 1-0 
Cortland: Mike Tota 2-4, Cody Consul 2-3, Joe Slavik 2-1, Greg Wright 2-0, Taylor Mendoza 1-1, Eric Richards 1-0, Zack Mulvaney 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Stevens: Matthew Deiner, 8 saves (10 GA in 59:45), Eric Yando, 0 saves (0 GA in :15)
Cortland: Mike Kaminski, 12 saves (9 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Stevens 32, Cortland 29
Ground Balls: Stevens 43, Cortland 35
Turnovers: Stevens 20, Cortland 19
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 12, Stevens 12
Clears: Cortland 15-of-20, Stevens 10-of-15
Faceoffs Won: Stevens 14, Cortland 9
Penalties: Cortland 5-4:30, Stevens 2-1:30
Extra-Man Offense: Stevens 1-4, Cortland 1-2