HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 1, 2008) – SUNY Cortland senior attackers Ryan Heath (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and Billy Fuchs (Merrick, N.Y.) scored three goals apiece in leading the third-ranked Red Dragons to a 9-7 win over the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon at the De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken, N.J. Cortland, which won the national title in 2006 and lost in the Division III title game last year, is now 1-0 on the season. The Ducks fell to 1-1 with the loss.
Stevens was led by sophomore attacker Daniel Prakopcyk, who scored a team-high three goals. Senior attacker John Dolny finished with two goals. Junior midfielder Matt Keating added a goal and two assists. Junior midfielder Jaeke Donahue chipped in with a goal and an assist.
Sophomore midfielder Bobby Steinhauser won five faceoffs for the Ducks and picked up a team-high six ground balls. Freshman goalkeeper Dave Decker made 15 saves and had five ground balls in the loss.
Cortland also received a solid performance out of senior attacker Kyle Simensky (Locust Valley, N.Y.), who totaled two goals. Senior midfielder Josh Cittadino (Baldwin, N.Y.) led the way with nine ground balls and won 13-of-19 faceoffs for the Red Dragons. Junior goalkeeper Matt Hipenbecker (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) earned the victory by making nine saves.
Just 14 seconds into the game, Cittadino was whistled for a tripping call. Stevens took advantage as Prakopcyk scored a man-up goal 19 seconds later as he ripped a shot past Hipenbecker. Cortland responded by scoring three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Fuchs had the last two goals of the period for the Red Dragons.
Stevens answered with back-to-back goals by Donahue and Dolny to knot the score up at 3-all with 9:22 left in the half. The teams traded goals as they headed into the break tied at 4-4.
Cortland scored two times in the first five minutes of the third quarter to open a 6-4 lead. Prakopcyk closed the gap to one (6-5) when he connected on his third goal of the game with 7:55 remaining in the period. Simensky added a huge man-down goal to give the Red Dragons a two-goal edge (7-5) at the end of the third quarter.
Heath's third goal of the game, which came with 12:13 remaining in regulation, extended Cortland's lead to 8-5. The Red Dragons added another score as Simensky picked up an unassisted tally with 4:32 to play. The Ducks would not go away though as Dolny and Keating scored back-to-back goals in the span of 1:12 to cut the deficit to 9-7 with 46 seconds to go. Those two goals proved to be the final scores of the contest.
For the game, Cortland out-shot Stevens 42-31 and owned a 37-28 edge in ground balls. The Red Dragons also won 14-of-20 faceoffs. The Ducks converted on 77.8 percent (21-for-27) of their clears. Cortland was 14-for-19 (73.7 percent) in clearing attempts. Stevens was 2-for-7 in extra-man opportunities. The Red Dragons connected on 1-of-4 man-up situations.
The Ducks' next game is slated for March 8 against Springfield College. That contest will be played at 2 p.m. at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, N.J.
