SUNYAC Home
Men’s Lacrosse Home

 

State University of New York Athletic Conference

Phone: 716-673-3105

Fax: 716-673-3135

Web: www.sunyac.com

Email: sunyac@netsync.net

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2004

CONTACT: Chris Gondek, SUNYAC Publicist

 

GENESEO PULLS UPSET OVER CORTLAND IN MEN'S LACROSSE
Knights defeat four-time defending champions 8-6 to claim SUNYAC title

 

CORTLAND, NY - The Geneseo men's lacrosse team pulled off a historic upset Saturday night to capture the 2004 SUNYAC Men's Lacrosse Championship. The Knights defeated four-time defending champion and nationally second-ranked Cortland 8-6 on the Red Dragons' home field. The win is the first over the Red Dragons by a conference team since men's lacrosse was reinstituted as a SUNYAC sport in the year 2000.

The score was 1-1 after the 1st period and 2-2 at the half before the Knights began to break the game open. Down 3-2 in the third, Chris Kelley (Syracuse/CBA) scored twice and David Hilfinger (Tully/Tully) added another to put Geneseo in front 5-3 with one quarter to play. Tim Killoran (Syracuse/Henninger) opened the scoring in the fourth and Pat Riehlman (Skaneateles/Skaneateles) made it 7-3 with just six minutes left in the game. Cortland senior Drew Hyatt (Jamesville/Jamesville-DeWitt) tried to bring his squad back scoring three times in the final four minutes, but the deficit was too much to overcome. Tournament Most Valuable Player Andy Howk (Pittsford/Pittsford Sutherland) made 11 stops for the Knights, including four in the fourth quarter.

With the victory, the Knights earn an automatic berth into the 17-team NCAA Tournament field. Cortland will have to hope for an at-large "Pool C" bid. The pairings will be announced on College Sports Television (CSTV) on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. and posted on NCAAsports.com. The first round is set to begin on Wednesday, May 12.


ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Ryan Hanretty Potsdam
Chris Minei Potsdam
Brad Gildersleeve Oneonta
James Battaglia Oneonta
Adam Hughes Cortland
Kyle Lambert Cortland
Frank Estrella Cortland
Dave Spennacchio Geneseo
Chris Kelley Geneseo
Tom McDonald Geneseo
Ryan McGee Geneseo
Andy Howk Geneseo - MVP