GENESEO, N.Y. – Sophomore Joey Morgan (Putnam Valley) and junior Billy Fuchs (Merrick/Sanford H. Calhoun) scored 17 seconds apart with less than four minutes remaining to break a 7-7 tie as nationally 13th-ranked Cortland defeated Geneseo, 9-7, in a SUNYAC contest. The Red Dragons have won seven straight games and are now 10-4 overall and 5-0 in conference play. Geneseo had a four-game winning streak snapped and is now 5-4 overall and 3-1 in the league.

Cortland sophomore goalie Michael Robinson (Alexandria, VA/Thomas Edison) made a career-high 14 saves, including a few from point-blank range. He recorded 10 saves in the first half to help the Red Dragons take a 3-2 lead. Morgan, Fuchs and junior Adam Hyde (West Seneca/West Seneca East) each finished with two goals and junior Ryan Heath (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) added a goal and an assist.

Mike Pizzuto (Amherst) led Geneseo with three goals. Andrew Hanover (Camillus/West Genesee) scored twice and assisted on a goal and Owahn Bazydlo (Syracuse/Corcoran) tallied two goals. Tim Garback (Syracuse/Henninger) made seven of his 10 saves in the second half.

Geneseo led 2-1 with 4:33 left in the first quarter on a pair of Pizzuto goals, sandwiched around a Hyde tally. Cortland tied the game with 1:28 remaining in the first on a Mike Felice (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) goal and scored the only goal of the second quarter when Fuchs found the net with 9:50 remaining.

Cortland scored twice in the first 48 seconds of the third quarter to grab a 5-2 lead. Heath scored with just seven seconds elapsed off a Josh Cittadino (Baldwin) assist and Cheney Raymond (Camillus/West Genesee) connected on an unassisted goal 41 seconds later. Geneseo, however, scored the final three goals of the period to knot the game at 5-5. Hanover scored at the 12:32 mark, followed by Bazydlo with 9:09 left and Hanover again with 2:32 left. Colin Ireland (West Islip) assisted on the latter two goals.

Morgan's goal with 12:39 left in the game and a Hyde goal, set up by Ryan Simensky (Locust Valley), with 7:16 remaining gave the Red Dragons a 7-5 advantage. The host Knights once again rallied to tie the game. Bazydlo scored with 6:26 left to close the gap to 7-6. Tim McDermott (Cortland/Homer) won the ensuing faceoff, with Rick Bova (Syracuse/Onondaga) grabbing the ground ball and feeding Pizzuto for the tying goal with 6:16 left. McDermott took all of Geneseo's faceoffs in the contest, winning 14-of-19.

Cortland grabbed the lead for good on a Morgan goal with 3:56 on the clock. Cittadino won the next faceoff as Simensky gathered in the ground ball and found Fuchs for a score with 3:39 left. Neither team was able to get a shot off the rest of the way.

Cortland will host Potsdam Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and can clinch the SUNYAC regular-season title with a victory over the Bears. Potsdam (4-1 SUNYAC) stayed in the hunt for the league title with a 9-8 win versus Oswego on Wednesday.

Cortland (10-4, 5-0 SUNYAC) 2-1-2-4=9
Geneseo (5-4, 3-1 SUNYAC) 2-0-3-2=7

Scoring (Goals-Assists):

Cortland: Billy Fuchs 2-0, Adam Hyde 2-0, Joey Morgan 2-0, Ryan Heath 1-1, Mike Felice 1-0, Cheney Raymond 1-0, Ryan Simensky 0-2, Josh Cittadino 0-1
Geneseo: Mike Pizzuto 3-0, Andrew Hanover 2-1, Owahn Bazydlo 2-0, Colin Ireland 0-2, Dan Balestra 0-1, Rick Bova 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Michael Robinson, 14 saves (7 GA in 60:00)
Geneseo: Tim Garback, 10 saves (9 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 26, Geneseo 26
Ground Balls: Geneseo 34, Cortland 26
Clears: Cortland 18-of-29, Geneseo 11-of-13
Faceoffs Won: Geneseo 14, Cortland 5
Penalties: Cortland 3-2:00, Geneseo 2-2:00
Extra-Man Offense: Cortland 0-2, Geneseo 0-3

2007-04-25