Division III Men :      May 17, 2006 [ The Game Story]
Cortland State 12 Middlebury 8 Scoring: Scoring: Kyle Lambert Mike Abbott Ryan Heath Matt O’connell Adam Hyde Tim Castoro Ryan Simensky (4, 2) (3, 1) (2, 2) (0, 2) (2, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) Jim Cabrera Travis Meyer Henry Sheehan Nick Bastis Gabe Wood Jeff Pello Aaron Herter (3, 0) (1, 2) (1, 1) (1, 0) (0, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) Saves: Saves: Ben Gaebel 12  (0.600) Pete Britt 11  (0.478) Current Record :     (16-3) Current Record :     (13-4) Team Page For 2006 Team Page For 2006       The Game Story:

CORTLAND, N.Y. - Senior attack Kyle Lambert (Brentwood) and senior midfielder Mike Abbott (Syracuse/Nottingham) combined for seven goals and three assists as SUNY Cortland defeated Middlebury College, 12-8, in an NCAA Division III men's lacrosse quarterfinal contest. The Red Dragons (16-3) advance to the national semifinals for the second time in four years and will host either Geneseo or Wesleyan (Conn.) on Sunday at a time to be announced. The winner of that game moves on to the national championship game on Sunday, May 28, at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.

Lambert finished with four goals and two assists, while Abbott recorded three goals and one assist. Sophomore Ryan Heath (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) added two goals and two assists and sophomore Adam Hyde (West Seneca/West Seneca East) scored twice. Senior Ben Gaebel (Deferiet/Carthage) made 12 saves, eight in the second half. Sophomore Jim Cabrera (Old Greenwich, CT/Taft) scored three goals for Middlebury (13-4), which had played in six of the last seven NCAA Division III championship games. Senior Travis Meyer (Potomac, MD/Landon) registered a goal and two assists and senior Henry Sheehan (Newport, RI/St. George's) finished with a goal and an assist. Junior Alex Palmisano (Southport, CT/Holderness (NH)) made eight of his 11 saves in the second half.

Cortland never trailed in the contest. The Red Dragons used goals by Heath and Hyde, both assisted by Lambert, to take a 2-0 lead with 8:59 left in the first quarter. Jeff Pello (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury) scored with 3:12 left in the quarter to cut the Panthers' deficit in half, but Cortland scored the first five goals of the second quarter, three by Lambert, and led 7-1 with 3:36 remaining before intermission.

Sheehan netted a goal with 1:42 left in the half to pull Middlebury within 7-2. Cortland, however, outscored the Panthers 3-0 in the third quarter to take an eight-goal lead. Middlebury made things a little interesting by putting up six goals in the fourth frame, including all of Cabrera's scores. A Meyer goal with 1:42 left cut Cortland's lead to 11-8, but the Red Dragons won the ensuing faceoff and, with Middlebury's goalie pressuring the ball, Abbott scored into an empty net with 30 seconds left.