CORTLAND, N.Y. (May 13, 2006) – Trailing 3-2 midway through the second quarter, fifth-ranked SUNY Cortland scored seven unanswered goals in the span of 11:24 as the Red Dragons advanced to play Middlebury College in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship with a 16-7 victory over 13th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday in Cortland, N.Y. With the loss, the Ducks closed out the 2006 campaign with an overall record of 14-4, which marks the most wins in a season in school history.
The Red Dragons (15-3) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening four minutes of the game on goals by senior midfielders Mike Abbott (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Matt O’Connell (Camillus, N.Y.). Stevens responded with three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead early in the second quarter.
Junior midfielder Matt Althauser (Bellevue, Wash.) began the comeback with an unassisted goal. Junior attack Patrick Bailey (Manassas, Va.) followed with his 22nd goal of the season off an assist from sophomore attack John Dolny (Mountain Lakes, N.J.). Althauser gave the Ducks the lead with 14:16 remaining in the second stanza with his second score of the game.
Cortland responded as junior attack Mike Felice (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) tallied a pair of goals within 17 seconds of each other to give the Red Dragons the lead once again. Sophomore attack Ryan Heath (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) added a pair of quick goals as Cortland scored four times in the span of 2:02 to turn a one-goal deficit into a 6-3 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Red Dragons continued to pull away early in the third quarter as they scored three times in opening five minutes of the period to extend the margin to 9-3. Stevens answered right back with a pair of goals from junior midfielder Mark Bielicky (Bridgewater, N.J.) as it closed to 9-5 with 7:27 left in the quarter. Cortland put the game away with three goals in less than three minutes as the lead swelled to 12-5. Senior attack Kyle Lambert (Brentwood, N.Y.), Heath and Abbott tallied one goal apiece in the deciding run.
Stevens was led by Althauser and Bielicky, who scored three goals apiece. Junior goalkeeper Jack Dunderdale (Ridgefield, Conn.) suffered the loss as he allowed all 16 goals while making nine saves in net for the Ducks.
Felice led all scorers as he finished with five goals and two assists for seven points. He added four ground balls in the victory. Lambert had three goals, one assist and five ground balls. Heath added three goals and an assist for the Red Dragons. Junior defender Cheney Raymond (Camillus, N.Y.) collected eight ground balls. Sophomore midfielder Josh Cittadino (Baldwin, N.Y.) had a solid game for Cortland as he grabbed 10 ground balls and was 14-for-19 in faceoffs. Senior goalkeeper Ben Gaebel (Deferiet, N.Y.) picked up the win as he allowed just seven goals while making 10 saves.
Cortland controlled the game in large part because the Red Dragons were 4-for-6 in extra-man opportunities and won 19 of 27 faceoffs. Cortland also held a 45-32 advantage in ground balls.
