May 12, 2025

Wagner and Defense Lead #13 Cortland to 10-6 Win Over #6 York in NCAA Third Round

Cortland

19-2

York (Pa.)

17-4

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Cortland (19-2)	2	2	4	2	10
York (Pa.) (17-4)	1	1	3	1	6

Cortland Sports Information Department

YORK, PA - Travis Wagner (Penfield) made 12 saves in goal, and Nick Stoecker (East Setauket/Ward Melville) provided a five-point night, as the nationally 13th-ranked Cortland men's lacrosse team knocked off nationally sixth-ranked York (PA) by a score of 10-6 in the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Sunday evening.

The Red Dragons have won 12 straight games and are now 19-2 on the year. Cortland will face nationally third-ranked R.I.T. in a national quarterfinal matchup next weekend. The site for that matchup is still to be determined, but R.I.T. is the highest remaining seed on that side of the bracket, and would be in position to host one of the two four-team pods. York ends the year with a 17-4 overall record.

Wagner allowed just six goals, and his save percentage of 66.7% is the highest in a game that he played more than 45:00 in since a 16-save performance in a win over Scranton earlier in the season. Joe DeLany (Camilus/West Genesee), Tucker Macknik (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) and AJ Surian (Bay Shore) each recorded two caused turnovers for the Red Dragons, while DeLany also netted his first goal of the season. Nicky Miltenberger (Ridge/Longwood) won 10-of-16 faceoffs, and scooped up four ground balls.

Stoecker contributed a goal and four assists for Cortland, and his four assists were tied for the most in his career. Sam Rothman (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills East) and Ryan Scanlon (Cornelius, NC/William Amos Hough) each added two goals and an assist. Sean Kavanagh (North Canton, OH/Hoover) chipped in two goals.

Nate Schilling scored twice for York, and Connor Stewart recorded four caused turnovers and three ground balls. Nash Womack made eight saves for the Spartans.

York opened the game with a quick strike, as Brady Watts won the opening faceoff, sprinted down the field, and ripped a shot past Wagner just seven seconds into the contest.

From that point, Wagner and the Cortland defense held the Spartans off the scoreboard for nearly the next 25 minutes of game action, including seven saves by Wagner in the first quarter.

After a stretch of over ten minutes of action without a goal on either side, Cortland equalized through Stoecker's 25th goal of the season. Immediately following a save by Wagner, the Red Dragons shifted down the field with an outlet pass from DeLany to James Sullivan (Rockville Centre/South Side). Sullivan picked up the ball just past midfield, and fed Stoecker on the left for a shot into the top right corner of the net. The assist for Sullivan was also his first collegiate point.

Cortland took a 2-1 lead with 10 seconds left in the quarter, as Stoecker sent a pass in front of the net for an backhanded shot from Kavanagh with his back to the net.

The Red Dragons opened up a 4-1 lead with two goals in under 1:30 of game action early in the second quarter. Shortly after York had successfully killed off a penalty, the Red Dragons forced a turnover and quickly transitioned back to offense, with Scanlon finishing the break off a pass from  Frank Neeson (Orchard Park). Rothman then sent a feed to Kavanagh right in front of the goal for his second of the night.

York scored the final goal of the half to reduce the Cortland lead to 4-2 at halftime.

The Spartans scored three of the first four goals in the third quarter to tie the game at 5-5 with 4:38.

Cortland re-gained the lead less than a minute later when Scanlon found Kole Stuver (Fairport) alone just above the goal line on the right side, and Stuver ripped a shot into the top right corner of the net.

The Red Dragons scored twice in the final 10 seconds of the quarter to lead 8-5 heading into the fourth quarter. Rothman rifled a shot into the top left corner of the net off a feed from Stoecker with 10 seconds remaining. Cortland won the ensuing faceoff on a violation, an DeLany barrelled towards goal and deposited a shot into the back of the net for his first goal of the season with one second left.

Cortland extended the lead to 9-5 with under nine minutes remaining as Scanlon flashed in front of goal, and Stoecker found his in front for his second goal of the game.

York pulled to within three goals with 3:22 remaining, but the Red Dragon defense was able to prevent York from getting off a shot attempt over the final minutes. Christian Lembo (Farmingdale) recorded a crucial caused turnover and scooped up a ground ball for the Red Dragons after a faceoff win by the Spartans. Just a minute later, DeLany also registered a caused turnover by shoving a Spartan out of bounds to give Cortland possession and allow the Red Dragons to burn off more time. With just over a minute left, Macknik had a caused turnover by forcing the Spartans into a crease violation.

After Cortland successfully cleared, Caden Morra (Farmingdale/Plainedge) completed the scoring with a shot into the open net after the Red Dragons broke the press as Womack left his goal to provide more defensive pressure.

Miltenberger won the final faceoff and Connor Cosgrove (Warwick/Don Bosco Prep) scooped up the ground ball, and the Red Dragons were able to run the rest of the time off the clock for the win.