Men's Lacrosse Drops Heartbreaker at SUNY Cortland, 10-9

5/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

Box Score CORTLAND, N.Y. (May 12, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team dropped a hard fought NCAA Second Round Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship game to No. 2 SUNY Cortland, 10-9, on Saturday evening in Cortland, N.Y. With the loss, Stevens ends its season with a 17-3 record and the most wins in the program's illustrious 127-year history.

Cortland netted the first score of the contest just 1:43 into the opening quarter. The Ducks won the ensuing face-off and controlled possession for just over six minutes until junior midfielder Rich Dupras (Hillsborough, N.J.) knotted the game back up at one apiece.

The Red Dragons answered right back at the 4:29 mark to take a 2-1 advantage, but Stevens would find the back of the net on an unassisted score by junior midfielder Nicolas Philippi (Mullica Hill, N.J.) not even one minute later. The Ducks would close out the first quarter with a 3-2 lead after junior midfielder Harrison Dorne (Morristown, N.J.) received a pass from senior attack Kevin Rose (Garden City, N.J.) with 1:20 to go.

As the second period began, Cortland seized all momentum after half of the time ran off the clock with no scoring involved. With 7:31 left in the half, the Red Dragons dead locked the game at 3s on a man-up score and then regained the lead 22 seconds later at 4-3. Another Cortland tally pushed its cushion to 5-3 with 5:32 to go.

The Ducks were awarded a golden chance to cut into the deficit after two slashing penalties by Cortland on the same possession gave Stevens a two-man-up advantage with 2:40 left in the half. Stevens was only able to muster one shot in the 6-on-4 possession, which was saved, and the Red Dragons were able to kill off the rest of the man-down time and close out the half with a 5-3 lead.

As the second half got underway, the Ducks gave up another score with 10:49 left in the third to fall behind by three goals once again, but came right back with a tally from senior attack Alex Hofrichter (Terrance Park, Ohio) on a feed from Dupras at the 8:06 mark to bring the game back to 6-4.

Cortland would build its largest lead of the game after back-to-back goals in less than a two-minute span, 8-4, before Stevens closed out the third quarter with the final score by. Rose picked up the assist on the play and sent the contest to an 8-5 situation heading into the final quarter of play.

In the fourth period, Hofrichter scored unassisted just two minutes in, and then 1:47 later, Rose and Dupras hooked up for a man-up goal to cut the deficit to 8-7, with 11:11 left in regulation.

The two teams traded the final four goals scored of the game heading into the last 3:17 of play. Hofrichter netted both scores for Stevens, while Rose assisted on one goal. Hofrichter led the Ducks with four goals, while Rose tallied four points on three assists and a score.

As the final minute ticked away, Stevens was able to stave off any attempt from Cortland to end the game and controlled the ball in its offensive zone with 12 second left in the game. After a timeout to set up the hopeful game-tying score, the Red Dragon defense knocked the ball loose and the final seconds burned off the clocks as both teams fought for possession and Stevens was unable to attempt a shot.

Freshman Matthew Deiner (Millstone Twp., N.J.) was dealt the loss in 59:45 of action and made eight saves. Senior midfielder Michael Steinhauser (Boonton Twp., N.J.) led the Ducks with seven groundballs and won all 14 face-offs, while sophomore long stick midfielder Tim Culloty (Mahwah, N.J.) picked up six groundballs and caused a team-best five turnovers.

Statistically, Stevens held the advantage in shots (32 to 29), groundballs (43 to 35) and won 14 of 23 face-offs.
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