Head coach Steve Beville earned his 200th career win at Cortland (Darl Zehr Photography)
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior Thomas McNaney (Marcellus) and graduate student Devin Phelps (Chittenango) each scored three goals as the top-seeded Cortland men's lacrosse team defeated fourth-seeded Oswego, 13-10, Wednesday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2018 SUNYAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament to hand head coach Steve Beville his 200th career victory on the Cortland sideline. Beville has a 200-42 record at Cortland and an overall mark of 348-153.
The Red Dragons (11-6) advanced to the title game on Saturday at 4 p.m., hosting second-seeded Plattsburgh, which defeated third-seeded Brockport, 6-4, in the second semifinal. The Lakers fell to 10-5 with the setback.
Senior Nate Beresovoy (LaFayette) and junior Dean Riley (Homer) each tallied two goals and one assist for Cortland. Junior Joey Panariello (Islip) scored twice, junior Terrence Haggerty (Centerport/Harborfields) netted a goal, while McNaney added two assists and Phelps chipped in with one assist.
Senior goalie Joe Scalise (Fairport) turned aside six shots and collected two ground balls for the Red Dragons. Sophomore Brian Williams (Holtsville/Sachem East) won 15-of-24 faceoffs and scooped up 10 ground balls. Junior Ethan Parks (Penfield) recorded five ground balls, senior Trevor Pratt (Denver, CO/Colorado Academy) secured four ground balls and freshman Rob Free (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) had three ground balls.
Junior Bobby Emerson (Lake Grove/Centereach) paced the Oswego offense with four goals and one assist. Sophomore Kyle Bacon (Montgomery/Pine Bush) netted three goals, sophomore Tim Schof (Montgomery/Pine Bush) tallied five points on one goal and four assists, senior Mark Niechcial (Syracuse/West Genesee) registered one goal and one assist and sophomore Caleb Alford (Adams/South Jefferson) scored a goal. Four others each chipped in with an assist as the Lakers assisted on 10 of their goals.
Freshman goalie Kevin O'Donnell (Cleveland, OH/Saint Edward) made 15 saves for Oswego. Sophomore Kyle O'Connor (Dexter/General Brown) won 10 faceoffs. Senior Teddy Phillips (Cortland) collected five ground balls, while Schof and sophomore Keif Manuel (Slingerlands/The Albany Academy) scooped up three ground balls apiece.
After Emerson opened the scoring 1:18 into the game, Cortland closed the first quarter with four straight goals, capped off by McNaney's goal with 1.1 seconds on the clock. Emerson netted back-to-back goals to open the scoring in the second quarter, pulling the Lakers to within, 4-3, but Phelps scored at 1:39 and Haggerty notched his goal with 13.1 seconds remaining for a 6-3 Red Dragon lead at the half.
Schof cut Cortland's lead to 6-4 with an early third-quarter goal. The Red Dragons answered with McNaney's goal and back-to-back scores from Panariello in less than a three-minute span for a 9-4 advantage. Bacon tallied a pair of goals and the Lakers were within 9-6 with 6:58 left in the quarter. Cortland again took the momentum at the end of a period as Riley scored at 2:56 and McNaney netted a man-up goal at the 50-second mark.
The Lakers responded with a pair of man-up goals to begin the final quarter to make it an 11-8 game with 10:50 to play. Riley and Phelps then scored goals 50 seconds apart to regain the five-goal lead at 13-8. Alford cut the score to 13-9 with a man-down goal at 1:51 before Bacon finished the scoring with 10 seconds remaining for the 13-10 final.
Cortland 13, Oswego 10
GAME SUMMARY:
Team 1-2-3-4 Final
Oswego 1-2-3-4 10
Cortland 4-2-5-2 13
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Oswego: Bobby Emerson 4-1, Kyle Bacon 3-0, Tim Schof 1-4, Mark Niechcial 1-1, Caleb Alford 1-0, Teddy Phillips 0-1, Luke Krizman 0-1, Jarrod Wilkom 0-1, David Renko 0-1
Cortland: Thomas McNaney 3-2, Devin Phelps 3-1, Nate Beresovoy 2-1, Dean Riley 2-1, Joey Panariello 2-0, Terrence Haggerty 1-0
Goalkeepers:
Oswego: Kevin O'Donnell, 15 saves (13 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Joe Scalise, 6 saves (10 GA in 60:00)
Shots: Cortland 52, Oswego 31
Ground Balls: Cortland 40, Oswego 22
Turnovers: Oswego 13, Cortland 9
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 5, Oswego 3
Clears: Oswego 14-of-18, Cortland 12-of-13
Faceoffs Won: Cortland 16, Oswego 11
Penalties: Cortland 6-5:30, Oswego 4-3:30
Extra-Man Offense: Oswego 3-4, Cortland 1-3
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 11-6; Oswego (Lakers) 10-5
