CORTLAND, N.Y. – Junior Ryan Simensky (Locust Valley) scored the game-winning goal 42 seconds into
overtime to lead the nationally fifth-ranked Cortland men’s lacrosse team to a 7-6 victory over 10th-ranked
Wesleyan Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Division III national semifinals at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex.
With the win, the Red Dragons advance to the Division III championship game for the first time since 1981 and will
face three-time defending champion, Salisbury, a 13-12 winner in overtime versus Roanoke College in the second
semifinal matchup. The Cardinals had their season end at 16-4 after two road wins in the NCAA playoffs.
Simensky finished the game with two goals and an assist for the Red Dragons, who played without senior SUNYAC
Player of the Year Matt O’Connell (Camillus/West Genesee). Senior Mike Abbott (Syracuse/Nottingham) led
Cortland with three goals, senior Kyle Lambert (Brentwood) contributed one goal and one assist, senior Brian
Atkins (Adams/South Jefferson) added a goal and junior Mike Felice (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) recorded two
assists. Senior Ben Gaebel (Deferiet/Carthage) registered 10 saves in goal.
For Wesleyan, sophomore Chris Jasinski (Wilton, CT) led the offense with one goal and two assists. Five other
players – seniors Jordan Funt (Setauket/Ward Melville), Mike Vitulano (Fairfield, CT/Fairfield Prep) and Mike
Walsh (Cape Elizabeth, ME) and sophomores Grayson Connors (Princeton Junction, NJ/Peddie School) and
Alex Kaufman (Lake Oswego, OR/Oregon Episcopal School) – each netted one goal. Junior goalie Charlie
Congleton (Groton, MA/Groton School) stopped 13 shots, including eight in the opening half.
Neither team could manage more than a two-goal lead in a game that was played at a deliberate pace for most of
the afternoon. The Red Dragons jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Abbott connected with an unassisted score at 12:12 of
the opening quarter and Simensky netted his first at 7:57. The Cardinals fought back with a three-goal outburst in a
span of 1:37 late in thee first quarter to take a 3-2 lead. Connors scored his team-high 42nd of the season at 4:50,
followed by Kaufman’s unassisted tally at 3:50. Thirty-seven second later, freshman Russell Follansbee
(Deerfield, MA/Deerfield Academy) set up Funt’s goal.
The teams traded goals in the second quarter as the two goalies each turned aside four shots. Abbott tied the
game at 3-3 with a bounce shot off Simenksy’s assist at 10:01. The Cardinals took the lead into the half when
freshman Jason Ben-Eliyahu (East Setauket/Ward Melville) assisted Jasinski’s goal 1:45 before intermission.
Wesleyan earned its largest lead of the game when Jasinski assisted Vitulano’s goal at 8:13 of the third quarter for
a 5-3 advantage. Cortland responded with a pair of scores to make it a 5-5 game heading into the fourth quarter.
Abbott netted his third of the game and 39th of the season at 6:51 to make it a 5-4 game. The momentum of the
game then took a turn with 2:29 remaining in the quarter. Two Cortland players were whistled for 30-second
pushing penalties, which put the Red Dragons two men down. Before play resumed, a Wesleyan player received a
three-minute non-releasable illegal stick penalty. Cortland killed off the 30-second man-down situation and had two
and a half minutes of man-advantage time. The Red Dragons capitalized at 1:28 of the third when Atkins scored
into an open net off a feed from Lambert to tie the game.
After holding off Cortland for the remainder of the man-up situation, which stretched into the fourth quarter, Walsh
gave the Cardinals their last lead of the game at 12:26 when he finished off a pass from Jasinski for a man-up goal.
The two teams traded possessions as the clock ticked off until Felice fed a pass from behind the cage to Lambert,
who ripped a high shot past Congleton for his team-leading 43rd goal off the season to tie the game at 6-6 with
6:09 remaining.
Neither team had a great look down the stretch, but Cortland was awarded possession with seven seconds
remaining after a 30-second pushing call versus Wesleyan as Lambert was hit from behind at the top of the crease.
Cortland held the ball to close out the fourth quarter and began overtime with possession. As Cortland worked the
ball around the perimeter, the man-up advantage expired without the Red Dragons squeezing off a shot. Cortland
continued to work the ball until Felice threw a pass to Simensky, who was 18 yards straight out from the cage. He
took a couple of steps and unleashed a low, skipping shot that snuck between Congleton’s left foot and the right
post for the game-winner.
Cortland State vs. Wesleyan
| Current Record | |
|---|
| Cortland State | 17-3 |
| Current Record | |
|---|
| Wesleyan | 16-4 |
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