Cortland Standard .net

By ALAN BUTLER
Sports Editor
SUNY Cortland attackman Benjamin Dunlavey quickly summed us this NCAA Division III first round men’s lacrosse tournament home field escape.
“A little closer than we wished,” said smiling senior Dunlavey after the Red Dragons needed to come up with two unanswered fourth quarter goals to dispatch visiting Springfield College 9-8 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.
Cortland came up with decisive fourth quarter goals by Dunlavey and fellow senior attackman Matt Savlov — both coming off Springfield turnovers — before securing a 13th consecutive victory and staying alive in this post-season quest for a national championship.
Dunlavey flipped in a blind back-handed shot from the doorstep of the Springfield crease with 13:18 left to play to tie things up at 8-8, senior midfielder Billy Davis with the assist after the Red Dragons spoiled a clearing attempt by the visitors. That was part of of a two-goal and two-assist contribution from Dunlavey.
Savlov bounced in the go-ahead tally from the left side with 8:57 showing on the Stadium Complex scoreboard clock to finish off a Cortland fast break. Senior defensive middie Luke McNaney did the leg work on that transition goal, Dunlavey providing the assist. That was part of a three-goal and one-assist contribution by Savlov.
Springfield (11-9) sputtered down the stretch, including botching two more crucial clearing attempts after falling behind. When the Pride lost possession with 2:30 left to play, they would not touch the ball again.
After a Cortland timeout with 1:43 to go, Red Dragons freshman Nicky Bonitatibus drew a slashing penalty 26 seconds later and the hosts used that extra-man advantage to successfully play keep-away until time expired.
“It was a big emphasis during halftime,” said Savlov of Cortland’s late success on rides. That helped keep Springfield scoreless over the final 15 minutes after a goal by Tom Hurley, coming with just four seconds left in the third quarter, had the visitors from Massachusetts up 8-7 and poised for a first round upset.
“We made a few adjustments,” noted Savlov. “Coach (Steve) Beville told us to switch it up a little bit and it ended up working out for us pretty well. They were giving it to their shorties in the middle, so we just wanted to stop that.”
“Springfield was doing a good job clearing the ball with their midfielders dropping down deep into the middle, and in the second half we told our attackmen to just drop back to where they are and harass them as much as you can and we ended up getting the ball back a bunch. Great hustle by the attack.”
CORTLAND IMPROVES TO 15-4 and will now host Endicott on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a second round game. Endicott (16-3) opened tournament play with a 12-6 victory over visiting Colorado College in Massachusetts yesterday.
Springfield had a seven-game win streak halted while being bounced from the NCAAs by the Red Dragons for the second straight season, having lost 14-10 in a second round game last spring at this same site.
“We weren’t playing like this a month ago,” said Springfield head coach Keith Bugbee of his team’s late-season surge, which included beating top-seed Bentley 13-7 in their conference title game this past weekend. “But Cortland at Cortland is never an easy game.”
Cortland got goals from Davis, attackman Zach Hopps, midfielder Matt Rakoczy and Savlov to jump out to a 4-1 lead midway through the first quarter. But with senior midfielder Bryce Serriello finishing with three goals, Hurley scoring twice and Chris Santaniello collecting 11 saves — including a brilliant stop in the opening seconds of the second half — the Pride recovered and held 5-4 halftime and 8-7 third quarter leads.
“They played great, their goalie played great and 44 showed his strength in the first half,” praised Beville of the Pride, No. 44 being the 6-foot-1 Serriello who had 40 goals coming into the contest. “We got sticks on him really quickly in the second half and that helped us. We made him work for it. He’s a big kid and it’s a hot day. We wanted him to work for everything he got.”
Serriello scored a third period goal that tied the game up at 6-6, though Cortland came back with just under seven minutes to go in that stanza to lead 7-6 when senior midfielder Mike Cantelli faked right and then ripped a left-handed shot past goalie Santaniello.
That’s when Hurley came up with both of his goals to put Springfield back in front, and forcing Cortland to display some fourth quarter mettle.
“IT’S NICE. WE WERE talking about in in the (post-game handshake) line that we don’t really want to have a big blowout. We’d rather play a good team and it’s a testament to them,” said Dunlavey.
“Every year it seems like we get them in the first or second round, and they bring it and that’s a testament to their coaching staff and their athletes. Luckily, we had a few more plays in the end and got it done,” he added.
“We know we can beat this team. We just haven’t done it yet,” said Springfield’s Coach Bugbee.
Defensively, Cortland sophomore David Foster did a good job keeping dangerous attackman Dylan Sheehan (39 goals-39 assists) under wraps, too, holding the Springfield senior to just two assists.
Dunlavey was among several seniors who loomed large, including goalie Scott Tota who collected a half-dozen saves in a game where the Cortland final shot advantage was a narrow 35-33.
“We’ve had a lot of tight games this year and that first group of midfielders (Rakoczy, Davis and Cantelli) are seniors, and Dunlavey and Savlov are seniors, so they’ve been in a lot of tight games through the four years and they stepped up and made plays at the end.”
“We’re a very tight group. We don’t want to stop, we just want to keep playing. We all want to win,” said Savlov of this senior class.
And a one-goal close call may be scary, but it’s still a victory.
“Doesn’t matter what the score is, just gotta win,” summed up Dunlavey once again.