SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The Skidmore College men's lacrosse team saw a last-second comeback bid finish just short in a tightly-contested battle against SUNY Cortland, 11-10, at Wachenheim Field on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the Thoroughbreds (2-2) initially tying up the match at nine-apiece midway into the final period of play, two unanswered goals from the Red Dragons (3-1) during the final minutes of the game forced the Thoroughbreds to have everything go right in order to pull off a miraculous comeback with mere seconds to go.

After junior David Koffler notched in a score with 27 seconds left in regulation, the home team would successfully force a Cortland turnover with seconds on the clock but were unable to put up the tying shot attempt as time ran out.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first period was a high-scoring one that saw the Thoroughbreds score goals off the sticks of senior Jon Bouvier and two from sophomore Jon Byrne to tie the game at 3-3 at the end of the quarter.
• Skidmore came out firing in the second frame with three unanswered scores, with the first two being from senior Jack Doherty and the third from sophomore Jack Holmes, to take a 6-3 lead at the 8:11 mark of the quarter.
• The Red Dragons found the back of the net just before the end of the half to cut the Thoroughbreds advantage down to 6-4 with 2:31 remaining.
• Coming out of intermission, Cortland controlled the third quarter by finding the back of the net three times while shutting out the Thoroughbreds to take a 7-6 lead into the final period of play.
• After the Red Dragons scored in the opening moments of the frame, Skidmore's Byrne responded with a goal off the pass from freshman Mike Aiello to complete his hat trick and keep it a one-goal game.
• Minutes later, when Cortland again went up by two-scores, Aiello responded with a pair of unassisted goals to tie the match even at nine-apiece with 6:53 on the clock.
• Cortland responded with goals at the 4:20 and 1:34 marks to take a commanding 11-9 lead, and seemingly had the game sealed by forcing a Skidmore turnover seconds later to gain control of the ball.
• Not allowing the road team to simply run out the clock, the Thoroughbreds executed near perfectly down the stretch with a pair of turnovers forced alongside a Koffler goal that cut the deficit down to a single score, before time ultimately ran out.
• Battling under aggressive windy conditions and physical play from both sides all afternoon also resulted in both teams combining for 45 turnovers with 10 penalties as a whole.

STANDOUT THOROUGHBREDS

• Byrne led the way with his hat trick to go alongside three groundballs.
• Aiello continues a stellar rookie year after recording two goals, one assist, two groundballs and a caused turnover.
• Doherty scored twice to go with two groundballs.
• Bouvier recorded a goal and an assist to go with a groundball.
• Junior Jason Fastiggi finished 15-of-22 on faceoffs and picked up six groundballs.

UP NEXT
The Thoroughbreds are back in action next Wednesday for a road matchup at Washington College (MD). The start time is set for 6 PM.