Fall 2010 In Review

With Men’s Football falling to Alfred University on Saturday, and almost every other Fall sport wrapping up their respective seasons, it’s time to recap how Cortland’s sports team faired this semester.

Football – Cortland managed a 10-2 record on the season, giving them the third highest win total in school history.  Sophomore Running Back Justin Autera (Mahopac) emerged as the main ground threat, finishing with 1,380 yards rushing and 21 rushing touchdowns, both marks are second best in school history for a single season.  Senior Quarterback Dan Pitcher set the record for most consecutive gave in school history with a passing touchdown at 11 games.  Cortland won the much anticipated Cortaca Jug game 20-17, but fell two weeks later in the playoffs to the 6th seeded Alfred University 34-20.

Men’s Soccer – The Red Dragons finished their season 6-11-1 after their loss to 3rd seeded Brockport in the SUNYAC Quarterfinals.  Their record does not tell the whole story as the team suffered seven one-goal losses, and three overtime losses. Cortland qualified for the postseason after a dramatic 1-0 victory in a must win game over SUNY New Paltz.  Senior forward Steve Bartkowski (Buffalo) and Senior midfielder Joe DiGirolomo (Farmingville), finished first and second for team lead in goals respectively, and both earned all SUNYAC honors.  Cortland finished 4-5 in SUNYAC play and qualified for the league SUNYAC tournament for the sixth year in a row.

Women’s Soccer – The fourth seeded Cortland fell to the top seeded and 15th-nationally ranked Oneonta in the SUNYAC women’s soccer semifinals.  The Red Dragons finished 11-6-3 on the season.  Junior Bridgette DeSantis received a first-team All-SUNYAC selection for the second consecutive year.  DeSantis scored nine goals to lead her team.  Cortland’s defense was solid all year, and only allowed only 16 goals in 20 games.  Goalie Pam Monnier earned first-team All-SUNYAC honors for the third straight season, and plans on returning for her last year of eligibility.  Cortland looks to continue next season where this year left off.

Women’s Volleyball – Cortland’s 34 victories in the 2010 season are its most since a 38-3 season in 2004.  The teams season ended in a loss to second-seeded Frostberg State in five sets in the second round of the NCAA Div. III tournament.  The team was led by two AVCA All-Americans honorable mentions, Junior outside hitter Ashley Coyle (Mt. Hope) and sophomore setter Kristen Guercio (Smithtown).  The team had a very successful season winning their 17th SUNAC title and earned their 22nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Men’s Cross Country – The Red Dragons finished 4th at the SUNYAC Championships hosted by SUNY Oswego at the Battle Island State Park Golf Course.  Junior Brendan Ward (St. James) placed 19th and was Cortland’s top individual runner with a time of 26:44.77 over 8,000 meters. At the NCAA Div. III Atlantic Regional Championships also hosted by SUNY Oneonta at Fortin Park, Cortland placed 12th out of 39 schools.

Women’s Cross Country – The Red Dragons finished 15th out of 32 teams with 432 points at the NCAA Div. III Cross Country Championships hosted by Wartburg College. Cortland junior Alyson Dalton (Sherrill) received All-America honors with her 31st-place overall finish.

Women’s Tennis: Cortland finished the season third place out of eight schools in the final  team standings. Sophomore Loraine Jelinek (Homer) beat top-seeded junior Monica Vieth of Geneseo in the first singles final at the SUNYAC Women’s Tennis Championships that took place at the Eastside Racquet Club.  The NCAA Div. III Championships are held in the spring.

Cortaca 2010 – A Tale of Two Halves

The 52nd annual “Cortaca” game on Saturday, November 13th between rival colleges SUNY Cortland and Ithaca was truly the tale of two halves.  Once coined by Sports Illustrated as “The Biggest Little Game in the Nation,” the fans and players have come to treat the weekend like a holiday.  Both teams were extremely hyped before the game, but generally the team who handles their emotions the best comes out on top.  For the past three years that team has been Ithaca college, who was looking to extend their win streak in Cortaca games to four.  Until the midway point in the third quarter, that looked to be the case.

After Ithaca jumped to a 17-3 lead on a touchdown run by Quarterback Rob Zappia (Rochester), and a Zappia pass to Dan Higgins (Rochester), Kicker/Punter Andrew Rogowski (East Amherst) added a field goal on the last play of the first half.  Ithaca to this point had dominated the game, and Cortland looked unorganized an uninspired at times.

The second half saw Cortland’s Justin Autera (Mahopac) quickly fumble the ball away, but Senior cornerback Joe Lopez (Port Jefferson Station) made a key interception to hold the Bombers at 17 after a threatening drive.  Then came the midway of the third quarter, the turning point in the game.  Ithaca punter Andrew Rogowski dropped to his knee to handle a snap, causing him to be called down inside his own 5 yard line.  Cortland quickly took advantage of the error, as Sophomore Justin Autera cut the deficit to 17-10 with his 3 yard run, spinning into the end-zone.  There was a clear momentum shift that brought the once silent Cortland fans into frenzy.  Justin Autera seemed determined to not be denied. He would also add the game winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter when he jumped over the goal-line from 1 yard out.  The sophomore would finish with 37 carries for a career-high 232 yards and two touchdowns.  His totals were the most ever in a Cortland vs. Ithaca game.

Ithaca really struggled to make anything positive happen in the second half, but they still had a chance to take the lead in the last few moments.  For the Cortland Seniors, the last 5 minutes of the game must have seemed like hours, but an interception by Senior D.J. Romano (Newburgh), as well as great defensive play on 4th down by Joe Lopez helped seal the Seniors’ first Cortaga Jug, 20-17.  Though the Cortland players will try to forget the first half, they will never forget their first Cortaca win.

Mens and Women’s Hockey Seasons Start Slow

Both the Mens and Women’s Hockey Teams have started the 2010-2011 seasons off a bit slowly, but there is no need to panic yet in Cortland.  The Women’s team has stumbled out of the gates to an 0-3 record, while the Men’s squad has a more respectable 2-2 record after just the first few weeks of play.  Those records may not be impressive, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

The Women’s Ice Hockey team opened up their season on October 23rd with a 5-0 loss to Adrian.  Despite falling to a 4-0 deficit in the first period, the team settled down and held their opponents to just one goal in the following two periods, partially due to Sophomore Sarah Sitcov (Wyoming Seminary), who stopped 26 of the 27 shots she faced when she was given the chance to play for the last two periods.  The next two games played were against RIT, who holds a #3 ranking in the nation.  RIT proved that they deserved to be viewed as the best with 7-0, and 6-0 victories.  The losses however cannot be placed on the Cortland goaltenders who played very strong games.  Sitcov recorded 52 saves which bested her previous single game total of 49, which she had in an overtime loss at Neumann College last season. Cortlands other goalie, Junior Katie Double (Victor H.S.) made 50 of 56 saves in the other contest.  These tough losses should give the Red Dragons good experience against quality opponents, which should help them down the stretch of the season.  Cortland continues ECAC play at home against Oswego on friday, November 12th.

The Mens Squad faired better in their first four games.  After a heartbreaking overtime loss in their season debut against Fredonia, the Red Dragons bounced back to earn a 4-3 victory against Buffalo State on October 30th.  Cortland Junior Corey John (Albany) had a goal and two assists, while Junior Peter Lompado (Staten Island) recorded a goal and an assist. Also tallying goals were Junior Matty Davie (Brooklyn) and Freshman Matt McNamee (Salt Lake City, UT).   The team then split the next two games with a 7-4 loss to #4 Plattsburgh after having the lead going into the third period, and win against SUNY Potsdam 5-4.  Cortland goalie Brittan Kuhlman (Omaha, NE) looks to keep his solid play up as Cortland continues play November 9th at Hobart.

Autera Making a Name For Himself

After his 122 yard performance in the 10-9 victory over Montclair State on Saturday, Sophomore Justin Autera (Mahopac) is just adding to his already impressive season.  With just two games remaining, including one NJAC regular season game next week at home versus William Paterson, Autera has the opportunity to record 1,000 yards rushing on the season.  Over the span of the first eight games, Autera has already recorded 916 yards rushing on 154 carries, giving him an impressive 5.7 yards per carry.  Along with the yards have come the touchdowns, scoring 14 on the ground, and adding an additional 2 receiving.  After recording just 126 yards last season as a freshman, it’s safe to say that Autera has hit the DIII football scene in a big way.  His play has earned the title of NJAC Player of the week in Septemeber, D3Football.com’s Team of the Week, National Team of the Week, and DIII’s Play of the week below.

The Cortland record for single season yards was set in 2008 by Andrew Guiliano at 1480 yards, which would require almost 500 yards over the next two games for Autera to break.  A more achievable number of 1,012 yards was set by Dave Pisciotta in 1987.  Eclipsing that number would put Autera in the record books as 7th all time in school history.  If Autera stays on his pace of 110 yards per game, he will finish with 1136 yards, good enough for 6th all time.  Statistics aside, it is evident that he the sophomore Justin Autera has a bright future ahead of him, and a lot more football to play.

Cortland Soccer is Headed to the Postseason

Saturday, October 23rd proved be a good day for Cortland Soccer, as both the Cortland Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams clinched playoff sports in the SUNYAC Tournament, both with victories over SUNY New Paltz.

On the Men’s side, the Red Dragons entered a must win game against New Paltz to make the playoffs.  If the pressure of that scenario wasn’t enough, the barrage of shots that Cortland faced was sure to be too much to handle.  The Red Dragons were not phased, and battled to a dramatic 1-0 with Senior Steve Bartkowski’s(Kenmore East) game winner coming with just over a minute left in regulation.  New Paltz had the edge in shots (33-11), and the edge in corners(10-4), but the team-leading fifth goal of the season by Bartkowski off of a Brendan Wells (MacArthur) service was the only number that mattered.  Senior goalie Patrick Pidgeon (Williamsville South) earned his first individual shutout of the season making 9 saves. The Red Dragons record moves to 6-10-1 overall and 4-5 in the conference and earned the 6th seed in the SUNYAC Tournament.

The Women Red Dragons did not need the late game heroics in their contest, as Senior Casey Reinhardt (Hilton) scored early, and the Dragons never looked back on their way to a 2-0 victory.  Reinhardt was the recipient of some crisp passing on the offensive third, and slotted the final ball into the side panel from 12 yards out to net her 6th goal of the season. Junior Jackie De Luise (Guilderland) scored the second goal of the match in the 56th minute with her shot from the top of the box that was well placed just inside the post.  The Cortland keepers were tested throughout the match but both Senior goalie Pam Monnier (Northport) and Dayna Moneta (Valley Stream North) who split the game shut down all of the Hawks chances on their way to the combined shutout.  The Red Dragons clinched the 4th seed in the SUNYAC and improved to 9-5-3 overall and 5-3-1 in the conference.  Cortland will play 5th seeded SUNY Geneseo in the quarterfinals.

Cortland Football Falls to Rowan: Good or Bad?

The SUNY Cortland Football team was handed their first loss of the season 20-17 by Rowan University.  The team’s dream of an undefeated season dies with the loss, as their record drops to 5-1 in both overall and league play.  My question is, does an undefeated regular season help your team in the long run when the playoffs come around, or does the adversity of the loss help your team grow and build character.  Cortland was in the lead for most of the game against Rowan, but the fact that Cortland had two field goals blocked that could have won them the game must leave the players with a bitter taste in their mouths. That being said the team effort as a whole was never lacking, they just couldn’t finish the game out with a win. So will the team bounce back and take the frustration from a tough loss and use it on their next opponents or will they fall into a slump?

In terms of the undefeated season, let the 07′-08′ Patriots be the perfect example of why an undefeated regular season led to extra pressure from the media and fans.  In the end, its the only the last game that matters.  Cortland’s early season loss should prove to be a learning experience that will help them in the long run, assuming they continue to play at the level they had before the loss.  If they don’t its a whole different story.

Perfect Game Nothing New For Club Softball Player

When the last out was recorded in Cortland’s Club Softball game against the University of Massachusetts on Sunday, pitcher Megan Coffey (Greece Odyssey) hadn’t even realized what she had done.  The team won a 12-0 decision, which would have been impressive in it’s own right as a pitcher, but UMass posted no hits, or walks; a perfect game.  “I didn’t realize that I had it until after the game, I knew I had a no-hitter going but I didn’t realize that no one reached base.”  Her teammates knew, as they ran on the field to congratulate Megan’s exceptional game. Coffey retired the last three batters with ease, striking out the last two.  For Coffey however; it wasn’t the first perfect game of her career.  She has recorded two perfect games, one sophomore year in high school, and this her first at Cortland.

The team also won two other games against UMass in their triple-header, 7-5, and 3-0.  These wins move the teams record to 9-0 on the season.  Cortland next series of games are at the University of Connecticut in November.  If the team has a successful weekend they will qualify themselves for the NCSA World Series.

Cortland Vs. Plattsburgh – Mens Soccer

On Saturday, September 2nd the Cortland Men’s soccer team lost a 1-0 heartbreaker in overtime, as Sophomore Matt Hamilton (Keeseville) scored for visiting Plattsburgh.  The visitors took control of the game early and dominated the first half of play.  It seemed as if Cortland was chasing the opponents, and just one step behind.  Sophomore goalie Niko Martinez-Reyes (Jamaica) was the man of the match after stepping in for injured senior goalie Patrick Pidgeon, making several key saves to keep Cortland in the game early.

The second half was much tighter, as both sides shared about equal chances.  Plattsburgh finished the match with more shots total, but Cortland recorded more in the second frame, including a close chance by junior E.J. Reutemann (Clifton Park).  Cortland also had a few attempts that went tantalizing close, but just over the bar.  Reyes made a few difficult stops in the final minutes to send the game into overtime.

It did not take long for Plattsburgh to strike in overtime as Hamilton scored into the open net after Reyes made the initial save.  Cortland will move to 4-6-1, 2-1 SUNYAC while Plattsburgh moves to 8-2-1, 2-2 SUNYAC.  Cortland’s next game is home on Friday the 8th at 4Pm vs. Fredonia.

Cortland vs. Buffalo State – Mens Football

From the opening kickoff it was apparent that Buffalo State was outmatched, but at the end it was clear that the better team won, as Cortland improved to 2-0 with a 35-7 home win on Saturday, September 18th.

The sophomore Justin Autera (Mahopac) was the story of the game, rushing for 134 yards and 3 touchdowns including a 20 yard run in the third quarter that put the game out of reach. Autera also contributed often on special teams, including one long punt return for a touchdown that was called back, but did show how shifty and fast he could be when he has the ball.  On most of his runs he was very elusive, making more than one person miss.

Cortland excelled at each and every aspect of the game.   Quarterback Dan Pitcher (Cortland) showed off his powerful arm throughout the game, and made several plays that allowed Cortland to keep Buffalo State’s offense of the field.  Pitcher went 17-of-28 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown.  Senior receiver Anthony Giuliano (Westlake) had 5 receptions for 61 yards.

When Buffalo State did have the ball however, the defense didn’t allow them much.  The defensive side led by Connor Tompkins (Sleepy Hollow), Bill Smith (Nanuet), and Cody Allen (Medina) was hard hitting all game which led to the disparity is total yards (385-225) in favor of Cortland.  Cortland also combined for six sacks on the day, giving Buffalo State quarterback Ryan Lehotsky (North Royalton) very little time to find his receivers.  The defense also put the game away further late in the 4th quarter when Bill Smith returned a fumble off of a sack for a touchdown.

Cortland’s next game is September 25th at Western Connecticut State at 12 p.m.

Note:  Attendance was a reported 3000, and the whole home side of the stadium was full.  There was a very family friendly environment and people were very respectful.  I was very pleased with the attendance and atmosphere at the game.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Cortland Sports Blog, where I will be following several sports related stories around the SUNY Cortland campus.  I will be attending different sporting events every week and reporting about what I see, and also adding my own opinion and spin on my observations.  Enjoy!