The Cortland Red Dragons traveled to Feasterville, PA over Columbus Day Weekend. Cortland had one of the toughest schedules to play. They played good teams and early in the morning.
The first game was played against perennial powerhouse Loyola. The Red Dragons came out firing at all angles. They took a 5-0 lead into the first intermission. Cortland slowed a bit in the second giving up 3 goals. The final score of the game was 10-3 in favor of Cortland. Goal scorers were: Barton (3), Barbariantz (2), Farr (2), Joyce, Poplarski, and Krupa. Cortland gained all 3 stars of the game: 1st- Harris Barton, 2nd- Mike Barbariantz, 3rd- Chris Poplarski. Netminder Lou Vetri played a great game allowing only 3 goals on 27 shots for the win.
Coming off a strong first game the squad was eager to start their second game against a hard-nosed Ramapo team. The game started off very evenly matched although Cortland took a 3-0 lead into the break. The play became a bit chippy during the second period. A Ramapo player had gotten a 5 minute boarding penalty and subsequently a game disqualification. Cortland took advantage of this mishap and played solid defense down the stretch to take the win 8-1. Goal scorers were: Boffoli (2), Glynn, Barbariantz, Joyce, Farr, Motto, and Weber. Once again Cortland gathered all 3 stars of the game: 1st- Ross Midgen, 2nd- Nick Boffoli, 3rd- Tommy Farr. Ross Midgen was the first ever goalie in Cortland history to gain first star of the game. He played outstanding making 24 saves on 25 shots.
A great first two games carried over to the first period of the Scranton game. Cortland held a 4-1 lead after the first period. However, penalties were the Red Dragons downside. A lack of defense in the second period didn't help either as they saw a 4-1 lead vanish to a 7-6 deficit by the end of the second. Brendan Joyce scored the game tying goal in the third to seal the tie 7-7. Goal scorers were: Joyce (2), Monks (2), Poplarski, Weber, and Farr. Brendan Joyce was named 3rd star of the game.
Rookies Al Grogan, Mike Weber, Gary Krupa, and Cory Monks made a solid impact on the team over the weekend. Weber led all rookies in pre-season with 4 points (2 G, 2A) while Monks had 3 points (2 G, 1 A), Grogan had 2 points (2 A), and Krupa had 1 point (1 G).
The regular season starts on November 6th back in Feasterville. Cortland finished tied for second with Oswego with 5 points at the end of the weekend.
The Red Dragons will be traveling to Feasterville, PA once again to kick off their regular season campaign on November 6th and 7th. Cortland will have great time slots this time around. The schedule is as follows:
