Red Dragons Fall at #12 Union, 12-7, in NCAA 2nd Round
Cortland Sports Information Department
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The nationally 12th-ranked Union men's lacrosse team went on a 5-0 run in the second quarter to erase a one-goal deficit and pulled away for a 12-7 victory versus Cortland Wednesday night in the second round of the NCAA Div. III Tournament. The Red Dragons had a an eight-game winning streak snapped and finished the season 14-5 and tied for 17th nationally. The Dutchmen improved to 14-3 and advance to the third round to face RIT on Saturday.
Sophomore Brandon Stiles (Mastic/Eastport-South Manor) led Cortland with three goals. Senior Joey Panariello (Islip) recorded one goal and one assist, while juniors Tristan Moreno(Clarkstown/Clarkstown North), Brian Williams (Holtsville/Sachem East) and Terrence Haggerty(Centerport/Harborfields) each netted one goal and senior Dean Riley (Homer) recorded two assists.
Freshman goalie Marc Esposito (West Babylon) turned aside eight shots, collected seven ground balls and caused two turnovers for the Red Dragons. Williams won 13-of-21 faceoffs and scooped up seven ground balls. Freshman Dominick Natale (Homer) secured four ground balls and caused three turnovers, sophomore Anthony LaRosa (East Meadow) registered two caused turnovers and junior Danny Caroussos (Smithtown/Smithtown West) collected four ground balls.
Keaton McCann scored a game-high four goals to pace Union's offense. Kieran McGovern netted three goals, and Michael Sands also tallied multiple goals, chipping in with two goals and one assist. Aidan Flood recorded one goal and one assist, and Kerry Lyne and Jack Kaufman each scored a goal.
Jack Santilli started in goal for the Dutchmen, making eight saves and scooping up five ground balls in 57:05 before giving way to Graham Goldheim, who did not register a save over the final 2:55. Edward Winters caused three turnovers and scooped up three ground balls, Heyden Frey recorded three ground balls and two caused turnovers and Patrick Regan secured four ground balls.
Cortland opened up a 2-0 lead on goals from Stiles and Moreno before Union tied the game on goals from McCann and Sands. Panariello gave the Red Dragons their last lead of the game at 3:05 of the first quarter. The Dutchmen opened the second quarter with their five-goal run that gave them control of the game. McGovern tallied all three of his goals during the streak. Stiles stemmed the momentum with his second goal of the game just seven seconds before the half, cutting Cortland's deficit to 7-4.
Kaufman and McCann netted the only two goals of the third quarter as Union outshot Cortland, 10-2, during the 15 minutes and carried a 9-4 advantage to the final quarter. Stiles made it a 9-5 game with his goal 50 seconds into the quarter, but Union strung together three goals from three different players to push its lead to 12-5 with 2:43 remaining. Williams won the ensuing faceoff and scored seven seconds later, and Haggerty cut the deficit to 12-7 with 49 seconds to play but Union won the final faceoff and ran out the clock to claim the win.
Union 12, Cortland 7
GAME SUMMARY:
Team 1-2-3-4 Final
Cortland 3-1-0-3 7
Union 2-5-2-3 12
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Brandon Stiles 3-0, Joey Panariello 1-1, Brian Williams 1-0, Tristan Moreno 1-0, Terrence Haggerty 1-0, Dean Riley 0-2
Union: Keaton McCann 4-0, Kieran McGovern 3-0, Michael Sands 2-1, Aidan Flood 1-1, Kerry Lyne 1-0, Jack Kaufman 1-0, Brian Davis 0-1
