Cortland Suffers First Loss, Rebounds vs Oswego, Glynn Lost for Year

The Red Dragons traveled up to Glastonbury, CT for their last regular season games. The marquee matchup of the day for Cortland was against Queens College, who came into the day in second place in Division II. The Knights started the game of quick netting a flukey goal from near center ice just 2:29 into the game. Gary Krupa evened the game back up less than a minute later on a pass by Player of the Year Finalist CJ Gilcrist. Queens had two more goals before the end of the period to send it into the break up 3-1. In the second period Cortland scratched its way closer to the lead on a goal by Player of the Year Finalist Max Stern. However, the Knights extended their lead back to two with 1:24 left to play in the second. The third period started quick with a goal by Rookie of the Year Finalist Tom Hughes on a sneaky back door pass from Brendan Joyce. Finalists for the POTY hooked up to tie the game at four with Gilcrist putting the puck home. But just thirty seconds later, Queens scored once more to put them in the lead. With five minutes left in the game Hughes pulled off a great dangle on the Queens goalie, Josh Krantz, to even the score at five. This caused the Knights to take a timeout to compose themselves. With two minutes left to play Queens scored a wrap around goal that went right through Lou Vetri's legs. Cortland found themselves looking for a quick answer. The Knights took a penalty at the 1:47 mark of the period. This put the Dragons on the man advantage for the rest of the game. Quick puck movement and shots from all angles proved to no avail. The Red Dragons came close on a shot from Gilcrist that hit the post. Cortland faltered for the first time this season, 6-5.

This sent a message not only to the ECRHA, but to the NCRHA. During the leagues live blogging session, a fan brought up a question that read, "Queens BARELY survived this exhibition with a DIII team???" League officials responded with these two remarks: "Cortland is an amazing team. Would be competitive nationally in DII." "Yeah, don't have to read too much into that. Cortland is really good. They would be a very very good DII team." These two comments proves that Cortland has proved to the league that they are prepared to take the jump to Division II next

season.

With the second game of the day against rivals Oswego, Cortland took the rink with a boatload of confidence after barely losing to powerhouse Queens College. The Lakers didn't stand a chance after the first period. Cortland notched five goals (Barbariantz, Farr, Fidotta, Stern [2]), to Oswego's one. The Red Dragons took a laxed approach to the second period as they only scored one goal. The third and final period saw more high quality Cortland hockey as they netted five more goals.

While this game was not a usual Cortland vs Oswego rivalry game, as there was not a huge amount of physical play, one stat that proved Cortland is the favorites going into playoffs. The Dragons allowed just nine Laker shots on goal. Cortland plays the Lakers for their second game of the playoffs in pool play.

Sad news was also brought to the Cortland team this weekend. Senior defenseman Sean Glynn has been lost for the year due to a blood clot in his leg. Glynn has been an iron man for the squad since his freshman year, 2008. Prior to this weekend, Sean played in every single game in Cortland Roller Hockey history, a feat matched only by Tommy Farr. Glynn was having a career year in his first season in defense. He started plays from the defensive zone every game. His goal each and every game was to not allow any goals while he was on the rink. A mindset of a true defenseman and teammate. Sean is still the current secretary of the club. His hard work in the front office has brought the team to where it is today. From the Cortland Red Dragons family, we would all like to wish Sean a safe and speedy recovery. Glynn will be on the bench for playoffs as his status with the team has been changed to coach, making him the first ever coach in the history of the program.

Gilcrist, Stern, Vetri, Hughes, Farr, and Cortland vs Oswego Rivalry Finalists for Awards

Today the ECRHA announced the finalists for this years first annual awards banquet to be held on March 2nd, the Friday of playoff weekend. CJ Gilcrist and Max Stern have both been named finalists for Division III's Player of the Year Award. Gilcrist, MVP of the All-Star game, currently has 21 goals and 18 assists for 39 points, in just 9 games this season. He is up against Max Stern who currently has 27 goals and 12 assists for 39 points as well. Stern, however, was an All-Star snub this season, but he proved his skill by winning the 3 on 0 Breakaway Challenge. They will both be up against Loyola's Kyle Peiffer.

Tom Hughes is a finalist for Division III's Rookie of the Year. Hughes has 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points on the year. An astounding rookie performance has certainly earned him this honor. He will be up against Loyola's Frank Kopicki and Ramapo's Jeremy Higginson.

Lou Vetri is a finalist for Goalie of the Year. Vetri's outstanding play this season has earned him the recognition he deserves. His 6 wins, 1.50 GAA, and .899 save percentage all rank first in Division III. He will be up against Oswego's Chris Galante and Nick Wojton.

Tommy Farr is a finalist for Team Representative of the Year. Farr's work in the front office with the ECRHA's League Officials has earned him this honor. He is up against Penn State's Adam Bogert and Delaware's Zach Pertes.

Finally the Cortland vs Oswego rivalry is up for Rivalry of the Year. The intense games between

these two teams, brothers Mike and Tyler Barbariantz and Tommy and Billy Farr, battles between Hudson Valley friends have earned these two teams this honor. The captains of the teams will accept this award if won, Tommy Farr (Cortland) and Brian Gambarella (Oswego). This rivalry is up against Stony Brook vs Hofstra and Neumann vs West Chester, four Division I schools.

With all the individual finalists announced as well as team rivals, Cortland still has some unfinished business on the rink. This weekend will be a true test as the Red Dragons will faceoff against Queens College, who is currently in second place in Division II. The second game of the day will have Cortland play their rivals Oswego in a feature game, their second of the year.