CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland raced out to a 7-0 lead after one quarter and the ninth-ranked Red Dragons
defeated eigth-ranked RIT, 14-6, in a matchup of nationally-ranked Division III squads. Cortland improves to 4-1
with the victory, while the Tigers suffered their first defeat of the season and are now 6-1.
Senior Mike Abbott (Syracuse/Nottingham) led Cortland with three goals and one assist and junior Ryan
Simensky (Locust Valley) scored three times. Sophomore Ryan Heath (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) finished with
two goals and three assists, junior Mike Felice (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) and sophomore Adam Hyde (West
Seneca/West Seneca East) each scored twice and senior Kyle Lambert (Brentwood) handed out three assists.
Senior Ben Gaebel (Deferiet/Carthage) made nine saves.
RIT was led by senior Zach Bednarz (Webster) and sophomore Andy Ruocco (Corning/Corning East), who
scored two goals apiece. Junior Scott Farress (Webster) recorded three assists and junior John Foley (Guelph,
ON/Our Lady of Lourdes) registered six saves.
Cortland took a 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the game on goals by Heath and Hyde, then extended the lead
to 3-0 on an Abbott goal with 9:34 left in the quarter. An Atkins tally at the 5:55 mark and Hyde’s goal with 4:20 left
pushed the lead to 5-0. Simensky and Heath then scored 47 seconds apart to give the Red Dragons a 7-0 lead with
2:46 remaining in the period. In the first quarter, the Red Dragons held a 12-3 advantage in shots, a 16-6 margin in
ground balls and won 7-of-8 faceoffs.
RIT closed with 7-2 on a Ruocco man-down goal 2:09 into the second quarter and a Bednarz goal with 10:36 left.
Simensky answered for Cortland just 22 seconds after Bednarz’s goal, but junior Eric Pritchard (Webster) netted
his team-high 26th goal of the season for the Tigers at the 7:54 mark to draw RIT within 8-3.
Cortland, however, used goals by Simensky, Felice and Abbott – the first and last of which came on extra-man
opportunities – in the final 4:01 of the half to take an 11-3 lead. The Red Dragons finished the game 4-of-9 on
extra-man opportunities, including two goals by Abbott, while holding RIT to just one goal on five extra-man tries.
Cortland State vs. Rit
| Scoring | |
|---|
| Ryan Heath | (2, 3) |
|
| Mike Abbott | (3, 1) |
|
| Kyle Lambert | (0, 3) |
|
| Ryan Simensky | (3, 0) |
|
| Adam Hyde | (2, 0) |
|
| Mike Felice | (2, 0) |
|
| Brian Atkins | (1, 0) |
|
| Cheney Raymond | (1, 0) |
|
| Keith Greene | (0, 1) |
|
| Matt O’connell | (0, 1) |
|
| Current Record | |
|---|
| Cortland State | 4-1 |
SPECIALTY PROTECTION
WOMEN'S PROTECTIVE
