SUNYAC CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL ROUND – #4 BUFFALO STATE BENGALS AT #1 CORTLAND RED DRAGONS
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023 – 3:00 PM
T. Fred Holloway Field – Cortland, NY
FOLLOW ALONG…
TICKET INFORMATION
LIVE STATS
VIDEO (OFFICIAL SUNYAC BROADCAST)
LAST TIME OUT… Last time out, the Bengals held off the New Paltz Hawks in an absolute thriller on Coyer Field.
Aladin Ali (Rochester, NY/East Irondequoit) scored the game winning goal for the Bengals off a beautiful throw-in pass from
JB Almontaser (Lackawanna, NY/Lackawanna).
Shae Wirt (Overland Park, KS/St. Thomas Aquinas) was stellar in goal for the Bengals making seven saves in the win. In the first half, Wirt stretched out to make a pair of incredible saves to keep the Hawks off the scoreboard.
The Bengals were able to play "keep away" for the last ten minutes of action to secure the win over the Hawks.
THE MATCHUP… The top-seed Cortland Red Dragons will host the Bengals for the second time this season. Being the top overall seed, Cortland earned a first round bye and will play their first match of the SUNYAC Tournament. Buffalo State will travel down to Cortland coming off a huge win over New Paltz on Saturday.
This will be the 37
th meeting since 1990 between Buffalo State and Cortland. The Red Dragons lead the series with a record of 32-4-1. Cortland has won each of the last six head-to-head matchups. The last time these teams met in the SUNYAC Tournament was back in 2021 when the Red Dragons came away with a 2-1 victory in the semifinal round.
Buffalo State will be competing in the SUNYAC Tournament for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. Under Head Coach
Francesco Cardillo, the Bengals have reached the postseason in all but one season. Buffalo State has reached the SUNYAC Semifinals twice under Cardillo's tenure in 2019 and in 2021.
Cortland will be competing in the SUNYAC Tournament for the 10
th consecutive season. Under Head Coach Steve Axtell, the Red Dragons have reached the postseason in every season, reached the SUNYAC Finals five times (winning twice), and have earned six trips to the NCAA Tournament.
The winner of this semifinal will play the winner of #2 Brockport vs. #3 Oneonta for the SUNYAC Championship.
LAST TIME WE MET… The two sides met up back in September where the Red Dragons defended home turf with a 2-0 victory.
Yasin Choukri and Jack Pinnata each scored for the Red Dragons while Jordan Ott was strong needing to only make two saves to preserve the shutout.
Yousif Kowa (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) led the Bengals with three shots with one being on goal. Wirt made a career-high nine saves in the effort for Buffalo State.
THE BENGAL BREAKDOWN… At 11-4-3 (5-3-1 SUNYAC), Buffalo State enters the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the conference as the Bengals finished the regular season winning five of their last six matchups while also earning a draw against #15 Oneonta. Buffalo State will aim to get back to the SUNYAC Finals for the first time since 1984. The Bengals have won two SUNYAC titles and are looking to get their first since 1970.
GO DIEGO GO… Diego Rivera (East Meadow, NY/Cairo Durham) leads the team and the SUNYAC with 32 points, 14 goals, and 68 shots in his debut season with the Bengals. Rivera has scored at least one goal in 10 of the Bengals 18 games including a hat trick against Oswego to help the team clinch a postseason berth. His goal total also sits 22nd in the country.
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS… Rivera's 14 goals are tied for the second most in a single season since at least 2006. The only Bengal to score more goals in a season in that time was Theo Pencic who scored 16 goals back in 2021.
SPREADING THE BALL AROUND… The Bengals have scored 49 goals this season while tallying 35 assists on those goals. That assist total is the second best mark in the SUNYAC (only trailing Cortland who has 38) and 35
th best in the nation. Fifteen different team members have tallied at least one assist while Prieto leads the team with six on the year.
OFFENSIVE POWERHOUSE… Buffalo State has tallied 133 points total on the year. That mark is second in the conference, only trailing Cortland with 136 points, and is the 32
nd best mark in the country.
IN GOAL FOR THE BENGALS… Wirt has been the primary man in goal for Buffalo State. Across 15 games started, Wirt has accumulated 60 saves and five shutouts while posting a goals against average of 0.97.
Max Shoemaker (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Wheatfield) has also had a solid season in goal compiling 14 saves and a shutout across three starts.
STAR OFF THE BENCH… Joseph Desmonie (Valatie, NY/Ichabod Crane) has had a strong first full season for Buffalo State. Playing in every game this season, Desmonie has come off the bench in all but three of those games. Across 18 games played, Desmonie had seven goals with six of them coming off the bench. He also has two assists on the year.
GOALS, GOALS, GOALS… Buffalo State has now scored a goal in eight straight contests with six of these contests being multi-goal efforts. The Bengals have only been shutout twice all season long. Buffalo State ranks 36
th in the nation in scoring offense and second in the SUNYAC trailing only Cortland.
STRONG ON DEFENSE… Kowa,
Ayden Cristales (Williamson, NY/Williamson), and
Riley Quinn (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) were outstanding on Saturday holding an aggressive New Paltz offense to nothing in the first half. The trio also led the Bengals defense in the second half stopping any attempt at a late surge from the Hawks.
REVENGE TOUR… Buffalo State has been shutout twice all season long. The first was against New Paltz with the second coming at the hands of the Red Dragons. Following their win over New Paltz on Saturday, the Bengals will look to keep the momentum going and get revenge against Cortland as well.
RESEARCHING THE RED DRAGONS… Cortland is set to host the Bengals with a record of 13-2-2 (7-1-1 SUNYAC) on the year. The Red Dragons finished the regular season winning three of their last five matchups including a tie with Brockport.
The Red Dragons sit just in front of the Bengals in terms of scoring offense sitting 29
th in the country. Matt Shultz and Yasin Choukri lead the team with 10 goals apiece with Schultz and Mateo Marra tied for the team lead with seven assists.
In goal for Cortland, the primary man has been Jordan Ott. Across 17 starts, Ott has registered 49 saves while posting eight shutouts and a goals against average of 0.73. Ott leads the conference in shutouts and is also 15
th in the nation in that category.
The Red Dragons are looking to get back to the SUNYAC Finals for the first time since 2021 where they won their 19
th conference championship.
SCHEDULES/RESULTS…
BUFFALO STATE BENGALS: 11-4-3 (5-3-1 SUNYAC)
CORTLAND RED DRAGONS: 13-2-2 (7-1-1 SUNYAC)
