Matt Tibbetts	Ben Worthington
Colin Panayi	Tim Cleary
Matt Finor	John Gregitis

Box Score

CORTLAND, NY—The University of Scranton men’s lacrosse team stood toe-to-toe against second-ranked Cortland State University Wednesday afternoon at the Stadium Complex.

The Royals opened up an early 2-0 lead and trailed by only two after the third period before the Scarlet Dragons pulled away in the final 15 minutes en route to an 8-3 victory.

Scranton, now 1-3, received a goal and an assist from junior midfielder Matt Tibbitts (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) and a goal apiece from senior midfielder Dillon McInerney (Hawthorne, NJ/Bergen Catholic) and freshman Alec Mikrut (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery).  

Freshman Zach Hopps (Akwesasne, NY/Massena) led a balanced Cortland St. attack with two goals and two assists and junior Cody Consul (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) finished with a goal and two assists.

The Royals survived a 40-18 onslaught in shot attempts, thanks largely to the play of senior goalkeeper Ben Worthington (Jenkintown, Pa./Archbishop Wood), who finished with a game-high 12 saves.  Scranton also offset Cortland’s hefty advantage in shots by winning the ground ball battle, 32-23, including a 20-11 margin in the first half when it found itself down by only 5-3 at intermission.

In addition, Royal sophomore Matt Finor (Churchville, Pa./Council Rock South) more than held his own, winning eight of 15 face-offs to help keep Scranton on the offensive end of the field.  He, along with Tibbits, senior long-stick midfielder Tim Cleary (Shrewsbury, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy), and sophomore defender Colin Panayi (Bedminster, NJ/Bernards) combined for 17 of the Royals’ 32 ground balls.

Both of Scranton’s first-period goals came within 32 seconds of each other.  Tibbits tallied his third goal of the season off an assist from junior midfielder John Gregitis (Wayne, Pa./St. Joseph’s Preparatory) and Mikrut added his third goal of the year after taking a pass from senior attacker Taylor Nelson (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East) and finding the back of the net with 13:02 left.

Cortland then ripped off four straight goals during a five-minute span to take the lead for good before McInerney answered with his team-leading eighth goal of the season to make it a one-goal game with 7:47 left before halftime.  The Royals, however, were held scoreless the rest of the way.

The Scarlet Dragons, the 2012 NCAA runner-up, put it out of reach on goals by sophomore Billy Davis (Manhasset, NY/Manhassett), Hopps, and sophomore midfielder Matt Rakoczy (Clifton Park, NY/Albany Academy) during a three-minute span of the fourth period.

Scranton will return to action this Saturday, March 9, against Lycoming College in a game to be played at Malvern Preparatory School in Malvern, Pennsylvania, at 2:30 p.m.

News & Notes:  Today’s game was the first meeting ever between Scranton and Cortland St…Nelson is now two points shy of becoming the 21st player in Scranton history to record 100 points in a career…Cleary is now tied for seventh place on the Royals’ all-time list for most ground balls (126).

--ROYALS--