Cortland at .500 After Going 2-1 on Long Island

The Red Dragons took their talents to Old Bethpage, NY over the weekend. They were looking to move up in the standings and they started their quest with game one against Syracuse. The puck dropped at 7 A.M. The two teams came out sluggish as they struggled with a scoreless tie until Nick Boffoli put one behind the Orangemen netminder at 9:44 in the first. However, 'Cuse knotted it back up 26 seconds later. Cortland quickly regained composure as Tommy Farr picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and maneuvered his way around a defender and lifted the puck over the goalies shoulder. The first period came to a close with Cortland up 2-1. The second period saw just one goal on the power play on a shot by Farr which deflected off a Syracuse defenders leg into the net. It was assisted by Brendan Joyce. The Red Dragons finally woke up in the third period and they did not waste much time doing so. A carry-over power play saw Farr notch his third goal of the game from the point on a pass from Mike Weber. The goals began to come at a quick pace for the remainder of the period. Nick Boffoli scored his second of the game at the 1:50 mark of theperiod on a pass from rookie Gary Krupa. There were four more goals scored by the Red Dragons in the game (Monks, Krupa, Grogan, and Glynn). Rookie Al Grogan scored his first career goal at the 6:33 mark of the 3rd. Cortland started off the weekend with a 9-1 win. Cortland gathered all three stars of the game: #1- Tommy Farr (3 G, 1 A), #2- Nick Boffoli (2 G, 1 A), and #3 Lou Vetri (1 GA, 15 SVS, .93 SPCT).

The second game of the day for Cortland was against new powerhouse Queens College. The 4-0

Queens team had their sights set high for the game as they quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead at

the 0:15 mark. Cortland saw three more goals slip past goaltender Ross Midgen in the first period. Two more quick goals from the Knights in the second period caused Cortland to take a timeout. After the timeout the Red Dragons scored two goals in two minutes (Brendan Joyce and Cory Monks). The score stood at 6-2 at the end of the period with momentum on Cortland's side. This momentum was quickly taken away from Cortland at the 3:16 mark of the third period as Queens scored their 7th goal of the game. The Red Dragons could not over come a four goal deficit in the first period and lost the game 8-2.

The third and final game of the weekend and the first semester was against rival Ithaca College. The "Cortaca" roller hockey series was in Cortland's favor as they skated to a 10-0 win last season. They looked to continue this trend. Cortland came out firing at all angles scoring 5 goals on 12 shots in the first period (Grogan, Monks, Farr, Barbariantz, and Glynn). Ithaca started out the second period strong, pressuring the Cortland squad and scoring first. However, the Red Dragons quickly turned the tides and scoredtwo goals in 25 seconds by Joyce and Farr. Sean Glynn notched his second goal of the game later on in the period by dancing around the Ithaca goalie who dove for the puck and left Glynn with an open net. Ithaca scored one more goal in the period. The Red Dragons laid back in the third period and that led to two more Ithaca goals. The ferocious Bombers squad fought until the final buzzer sounded but Cortland hung on to win the "Cortaca" game 8-4 and take a 2-0 lead in the series. Cortland once again gathered all three stars of the game: #1- Tommy Farr (2 G, 2 A), #2- Brendan Joyce (1 G, 2 A), #3- Al Grogan (1 G, 2 A).

The weekend was one of the best in Cortland's history going 2-1 for only the second time in their short 3 year existence. The weekend saw Cortland score 19 goals, the record for goals in a 3 game weekend. Points were at a premium this weekend as the Red Dragons had some players with high point totals: Tommy Farr- 8 points (5 G, 3 A), Brendan Joyce- 6 points (2 G, 4 A), Gary Krupa- 5 points (1 G, 4 A), Al Grogan- 4 points (2 G, 2 A), Nick Boffoli- 3 points (2 G, 1 A), Sean Glynn- 3 points (3 G), Cory Monks- 3 points (3 G), Mike Weber- 2 points (2 A), and Mike Barbariantz- 1 points (1 G). This 2010-2011 squad has scoring power that has never been seen by the State University before. With 35 goals in 6 games this season, Cortland has almost evened their total from last years 40 goal output.

As the first semester schedule takes a pause for the winter break things are looking up for the

Red Dragons as they now stand in 5th place in Division III with a 3-3 record for 6 points. Cortland has 6 games remaining on their schedule before playoffs (Loyola, Scranton, Lehigh, Oswego, Ramapo, and UMass- Amherst). Cortland players are showing up in the league leaders in many different categories. Tommy Farr is tied for 9th in points with 13, tied for 5th in goals with 8, and tied for 1st in star points with 11. Gary Krupa is tied for 5th in assists with 8. Sean Glynn is tied for 4th in game winning goals with 2. Harris Barton leads the league in penalty minutes with 30. Rookies Krupa, Grogan, Weber, and Monks are improving their game every time they step on to the surface. They have brought leadership and a skill set to the team that no one could have envisioned during the tryout period. Krupa stands in second on the team in points with 11 and first in assists with 8.

On a side note, Harris Barton has completed his 3 game suspension and is now eligible to play in the next game and Bob Motto still has one game left on his 4 game suspension. Things are looking up for the Red Dragons as they are looking forward to the 2011 semester of play. Check back over the break for schedule updates and all-star announcements. Have a safe and happy holiday season!