May 13, 2015
#10 Men's Lacrosse Falls to #1 RIT in NCAA Quarterfinals
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The nationally top-ranked RIT men's lacrosse team outscored 10th-ranked Cortland, 8-0, in the fourth quarter to break open a tight game and earned an 18-7 victory Wednesday afternoon in the NCAA Div. III Quarterfinals. The Red Dragons had a 14-game winning streak snapped and finished the season 16-5 and tied for fifth nationally. The Tigers improved to 21-0 and will face Tufts University in the national semifinals on Sunday.
Junior Zach Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) led the Cortland offense with two goals and two assists. Senior Matt Rakoczy (Clifton Park/Albany Academy) also netted two goals to finish his Cortland career 25th in scoring with 151 points on 109 goals and 42 assists. Seniors Mike Cantelli (Holmdel, NJ) and Billy Davis (Manhasset) and freshman Nicky Bonitatibus (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) each scored a goal with sophomore Austin Hope (Liverpool) recording one assist. Cantelli finished his four years with 118 points on 70 goals and 48 assists.
Senior goalie Scott Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) concluded his Cortland career by making 14 saves. Junior Pat Baldwin (Alpharetta, GA) collected six ground balls, senior Dillon Giorgis (Avon, OH/Western Reserve Academy) caused two turnovers, and junior Anthony Vaccaro (Holtsville/Sachem East) and Rakoczy registered four and three ground balls, respectively.
Eddie Kiesa led the Tigers with eight points on six goals and two assists, while Kyle Sterzin connected for five goals. Chad Levick scored three times, Ryan Lee added two goals and two assists, Cory Ashmore chipped in with a goal and two assists and Alex Bodin tallied one goal. Goalie Pat Johnston made 10 saves. Matt Hossack won 17-of-26 faceoffs and collected a game-high 15 ground balls for RIT.
Cortland took a 2-1 lead after one quarter as Rakoczy and Hopps wrapped goals around a score by Levick. Sterzin and Davis traded goals to start the second quarter, and the Red Dragons held a 3-2 lead early in the quarter. Sterzin and Lee gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead, but Rakoczy and Bonitatibus answered to swing the advantage back to Cortland, 5-4, at the 8:42 mark. The Tigers regained the lead with a pair of goals just nine seconds apart and took the 6-5 advantage into halftime.
The Tigers pushed their lead to 9-5 with the first three goals of the third quarter, two from Sterzin and one by Kiesa. Cantelli and Hopps answered for Cortland to cut the deficit to 9-7 at the 5:15 mark of the third quarter. Sterzin made it a 10-7 score heading into the fourth quarter that belonged to the Tigers. Kiesa scored five of his six goals during the decisive 15 minutes as RIT closed out the game with the final nine goals.  Â
RIT 18, Cortland 7
GAME SUMMARY:
Team        1-2-3-4 Final
Cortland      2-3-2-0    7
RIT Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1-5-4-8 Â Â 18
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland:Â Zach Hopps 2-2, Matt Rakoczy 2-0, Mike Cantelli 1-0, Billy Davis 1-0, Nicky Bonitatibus 1-0, Austin Hope 0-1Â
RIT: Eddie Kiesa 6-2, Kyle Sterzin 5-0, Chad Levick 3-0, Ryan Lee 2-2, Cory Ashmore 1-2, Alex Bodin 1-0, Matt Hossack 0-2, Allister Warren 0-2, J.D. Hall 0-1, Josh Harris 0-1 Â Â
Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Scott Tota, 14 saves (18 GA in 60:00)
RIT: Pat Johnston, 10 saves (7 GA in 60:00)
Shots: RIT 51, Cortland 23
Ground Balls:Â RIT 47, Cortland 24
Turnovers: Cortland 17, RIT 11
Caused Turnovers: RIT 14, Cortland 3
Clears: Cortland 15-of-18, RIT 15-of-15
Faceoffs Won:Â RIT 18, Cortland 11
Penalties: RIT 1-1:00, Cortland 1-1:00
Extra-Man Offense:Â RIT 1-1, Cortland 0-1
Records after the game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 16-5 (ranked 10th in Div. III); RIT (Tigers) 21-0 (ranked 1st in Div. III)
Junior Zach Hopps (Akwesasne/Massena) led the Cortland offense with two goals and two assists. Senior Matt Rakoczy (Clifton Park/Albany Academy) also netted two goals to finish his Cortland career 25th in scoring with 151 points on 109 goals and 42 assists. Seniors Mike Cantelli (Holmdel, NJ) and Billy Davis (Manhasset) and freshman Nicky Bonitatibus (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) each scored a goal with sophomore Austin Hope (Liverpool) recording one assist. Cantelli finished his four years with 118 points on 70 goals and 48 assists.
Senior goalie Scott Tota (Webster/Webster Schroeder) concluded his Cortland career by making 14 saves. Junior Pat Baldwin (Alpharetta, GA) collected six ground balls, senior Dillon Giorgis (Avon, OH/Western Reserve Academy) caused two turnovers, and junior Anthony Vaccaro (Holtsville/Sachem East) and Rakoczy registered four and three ground balls, respectively.
Eddie Kiesa led the Tigers with eight points on six goals and two assists, while Kyle Sterzin connected for five goals. Chad Levick scored three times, Ryan Lee added two goals and two assists, Cory Ashmore chipped in with a goal and two assists and Alex Bodin tallied one goal. Goalie Pat Johnston made 10 saves. Matt Hossack won 17-of-26 faceoffs and collected a game-high 15 ground balls for RIT.
Cortland took a 2-1 lead after one quarter as Rakoczy and Hopps wrapped goals around a score by Levick. Sterzin and Davis traded goals to start the second quarter, and the Red Dragons held a 3-2 lead early in the quarter. Sterzin and Lee gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead, but Rakoczy and Bonitatibus answered to swing the advantage back to Cortland, 5-4, at the 8:42 mark. The Tigers regained the lead with a pair of goals just nine seconds apart and took the 6-5 advantage into halftime.
The Tigers pushed their lead to 9-5 with the first three goals of the third quarter, two from Sterzin and one by Kiesa. Cantelli and Hopps answered for Cortland to cut the deficit to 9-7 at the 5:15 mark of the third quarter. Sterzin made it a 10-7 score heading into the fourth quarter that belonged to the Tigers. Kiesa scored five of his six goals during the decisive 15 minutes as RIT closed out the game with the final nine goals.  Â
RIT 18, Cortland 7
GAME SUMMARY:
Team        1-2-3-4 Final
Cortland      2-3-2-0    7
RIT Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1-5-4-8 Â Â 18
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland:Â Zach Hopps 2-2, Matt Rakoczy 2-0, Mike Cantelli 1-0, Billy Davis 1-0, Nicky Bonitatibus 1-0, Austin Hope 0-1Â
RIT: Eddie Kiesa 6-2, Kyle Sterzin 5-0, Chad Levick 3-0, Ryan Lee 2-2, Cory Ashmore 1-2, Alex Bodin 1-0, Matt Hossack 0-2, Allister Warren 0-2, J.D. Hall 0-1, Josh Harris 0-1 Â Â
Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Scott Tota, 14 saves (18 GA in 60:00)
RIT: Pat Johnston, 10 saves (7 GA in 60:00)
Shots: RIT 51, Cortland 23
Ground Balls:Â RIT 47, Cortland 24
Turnovers: Cortland 17, RIT 11
Caused Turnovers: RIT 14, Cortland 3
Clears: Cortland 15-of-18, RIT 15-of-15
Faceoffs Won:Â RIT 18, Cortland 11
Penalties: RIT 1-1:00, Cortland 1-1:00
Extra-Man Offense:Â RIT 1-1, Cortland 0-1
Records after the game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 16-5 (ranked 10th in Div. III); RIT (Tigers) 21-0 (ranked 1st in Div. III)
