Box Score

MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. – SUNY Cortland ran off seven unanswered goals over the opening 17:50 of the second half, breaking open a close game as the third-ranked Red Dragons held off a late Gettysburg rally, earning a 14-8 victory over the No. 2 Bullets Saturday afternoon at John J. Burns Park.

The game was played at a neutral site location on Long Island and drew a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 1,000 spectators.

Brian Krol paced Cortland (3-0) with four goals and an assist while Chris DeLuca added three goals. Joey Morgan contributed two goals and two assists.

Gettysburg (1-2), playing a top-10 opponent for the second time in four days, was led by senior Zach Pucci (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) and junior Kyle McGrath (Randolph, N.J./Randolph), who scored two goals apiece.

With the game tied 5-5 at halftime, the Red Dragons reeled off five goals over the first 5:09 of the quarter. The Bullets blanked Cortland over the remainder of the period until Zach Mulvaney scored with 2:50 left, making it a six-goal game heading into the fourth quarter.

Krol capped Cortland's run when he scored 2:50 into the final period to push his team's lead to 12-5. That's how the score remained until the Bullets caught fire midway through the stanza, scoring three times over a 44-second span. Junior Joe Brody (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) sparked the run, scoring off a feed from senior Rob Triplett (McLean, Va./McLean) with 6:28 left. Sophomore Matt Griffo (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) followed up with an outstanding play, forcing a turnover near midfield, then scoring in transition for his first collegiate goal to make it a 12-7 game with 5:58 left.

The Bullets struck again just 14 seconds later, as senior Tom O'Donnell (Montgomeryville, Pa./La Salle College) scooped up a loose ball off the face-off and outraced the defense before scoring his third goal of the season, pulling Gettysburg to within four with 5:44 remaining.

Cortland won the next face-off, but senior Zach Furshman (Miami, Fla./Kent School [Conn.]) came up with a save with 4:38 on the clock. However, the Bullets committed a turnover on their ensuing possession, and Krol sealed the Dragons victory when he scored his final goal with 2:26 left. Morgan set the final tally with a goal at the 1:52 mark.

Furshman finished with 12 saves for Gettysburg while Matt Hipenbecker stopped six shots for Cortland.

The Dragons out-shot the Bullets 35-26 and won 15-of-26 face-offs. Cortland was whistled for 11 penalties, but allowed only two man-up goals.

Cortland also started the first half strong, scoring twice over the opening 1:07. DeLuca won the opening face-off, picked up the ground ball, and raced downfield before scoring 16 seconds into the contest. Tom Burke followed up with a goal 51 seconds later to give the Red Dragon an early 2-0 advantage.

The Bullets answered midway through the half, however, scoring three straight goals to assume a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. McGrath punched in his team-leading sixth and seventh goals of the season over a 3:34 span to tie the game with 3:21 showing, and junior Josh Reichert (Englewood, Colo./Kent School) converted in a man-up situation with 2:23 left in the opening quarter.

DeLuca pulled Cortland even with a man-up goal of his own 2:24 into the second quarter before Pucci put the Bullets back in front 44 seconds later. After the Dragons scored back-to-back goals midway through the period, Pucci converted on a two-man advantage with 2:35 to go, tying the game 5-5 at the half.

Cortland was whistled for eight of its penalties in the opening half.

Gettysburg returns home on Wednesday, when it hosts Ohio Wesleyan at 2 p.m. in another non-conference outing.