Cortland boys lacrosse falls to Tully at home

Cortland senior Rory Hines spins to avoid a Tully defender (Ross Cohen/Cortland Voice)

CORTLAND, N.Y. — After a great win on Saturday against Chittenango, the Cortland Tigers fell by a score of 10-5 against the Tully Black Knights Monday night at Cortland Junior-Senior High School.

Within the first two minutes of the game, Tully recorded two chances on goal, with junior goalkeeper Ethan Myers making big saves for the Tigers.

The first goal of the night came from Tully senior attacker Tyler Edinger with 8:46 left in the first quarter.

With Tully keeping possession for almost the entire first half, the Tigers were forced to play defense for extended stretches. Tully recorded a total of 23 shots by the end of the first half.

Myers made a total of 13 saves in the first half, eight of them coming from the first quarter. He recorded four additional saves in the second half.

With 2:43 left in the second quarter,  Myers came out of his position clearing the ball, running all the way to the other side of the field and letting sophomore Owen Riley make the assist to Junior Adam Jubran to narrow Tully’s lead to 5-1.

“Coming into the second half, we didn't make a ton of adjustments,” said Cortland head coach Sean Mack. “We basically challenged our players to play harder and with a little more heart, because that first half we did not outside of Ethan Myers who played like a man tonight.”

Cortland goalie, Ethan Myers set up in net prepared to make a save (Ross Cohen/Cortland Voice)

Tully opened the third quarter of play with two more goals, taking a 7-1 lead with six minutes left in the quarter. Senior Brandon Ludwig scored for the Tigers to narrow Tully’s lead to 7-2 heading into the fourth quarter.

Cortland recorded two more goals from Martin Monroe and Owen Riley early in the fourth quarter to narrow Tully’s lead to 7-4 with 8:47 left in the game.

Seeing that the Tigers were making a comeback, the Black Knights locked in, forcing Cortland to fall back on defense and rely on Myers’ goaltending prowess.

“They dominated possession,” said Mack. “They dominated our face-off group. Our face-off group has to find a way to get the ball back. We are losing a lot of fifty-fifty balls right now. It is more about effort than anything else, and that leads us to play a ton of defense.”

The Tigers are now 3-7 overall. Needing a win in their conference—in which they are 2-5—the Tigers will be back at home Tuesday, April 23, to take on Fulton at 7 p.m.