Men's Lacrosse

Golden Bears’ Championship-Winning Season Ends In Cortland, 21-5

CORTLAND, N.Y. (May 6, 2026) – The Golden Bears marched into the first round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Postseason Tournament after their upset win over the Endicott College Gulls. They matched up with the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons first. Cortland started the game with six goals in the first and followed it up with four in the second. WNE trailed 10-2 at halftime. The Red Dragons added eight goals in the third, steamrolling their way to a 21-5 win.

Records:
Western New England: 13-7 (8-1)
SUNY Cortland: 15-5 (7-0)

How it Happened:
First Quarter:
  • The Red Dragons got out to a quick start, scoring 19 seconds into the game off a goal from their leading scorer, Stefan Swedlund, his 61st of the season. Drew Williamee assisted on the goal.
  • It took a little while, including a few turnovers and saved shots, before the next three goals came in quick succession. Cortland's Drew Williamee, Eli Volk, and Nathan Nagengast all scored within 1:31 of each other, and Cortland had an early 4-0 lead before WNE called a timeout. Caden Morra picked up an assist for Cortland on the first goal of that run.
  • WNE would get a goal back after the timeout thanks to Kevin Morina scoring off a Thomas Labbe assist, but James Violi and Nick Stoecker would extend the Cortland lead to 6-1 by the end of the quarter. Nagengast assisted the final goal of the first quarter.
  • The Red Dragons dominated the first quarter in terms of goals and stats. They had more shots (9-5), shots on goal (6-5), ground balls (14-4), and saves (4-0). Both teams won four faceoffs.
Second Quarter:
  • The second saw the Golden Bears cut the deficit to two early on. Logan Proctor found Thomas Labbe for the goal. The Red Dragons responded with force, as they scored the next three goals, and goalie Charlie Palowski made another save.
  • Swedlund scored his second and third goals of the contest, with Williamee picking up his third point, with the assist on the third Swedlund goal. With 2:35 left in the half, Colton Hornquist scored off a Stocker assist for his tenth goal of the season. Cortland led 9-2.
  • Swedlund picked up his fourth goal of the game with one second left after a cross-crease pass from Stoecker. WNE trailed 10-2 at the half. The Golden Bears were behind in shots 16-12 and shots on goal (10-7). Cortland also had more ground balls (20-8), saves (5-0), and faceoff wins (8-5).
Third Quarter:
  • The second half did not start much better than the first ended. Cortland netted three goals in the first 3:05. Williamee scored the first before Caden Morra scored the next two. Frank Neeson picked up an assist along with Nathan Nagengast and Drew Williamee, once again. Cortland had a dominant 13-2 lead.
  • Williamee then picked up his sixth and seventh points of the game with two more goals to extend the Red Dragon lead to 15-2. Then, with 3:07 left in the third, Frank Neeson scored a man-up goal, followed by Morra's hat-trick goal. Both goals were assisted. The first from Colton Hornquist and the second from Nathan Nagengast. The Red Dragons added one more to their eight-goal third quarter thanks to Oban Rader's third goal of the season. Caden Morra fed him a pass for the goal.
  • WNE trailed 18-2 going into the final quarter of the game and possibly their season. The third quarter saw a bigger difference in stats, with the Red Dragons ahead in shots (13-6), shots on goal (5-1), faceoff wins (4-2), ground balls (5-2), and saves (1-0).
Fourth Quarter:
  • Jacob Roy would score early in the final quarter to get WNE on the board for the first time in the second half. However, after a few saves by Falowski and WNE's goalie for half of the game, Matthew Davis, Hornquist scored to extend the Cortland lead back to 16 goals.
  • Thomas Labbe would respond with a WNE unassisted goal with 8:42 left in the contest, but Cortland answered once again. Jimmy Addonizio assisted Nick Stoecker's 60th goal of the season to give Cortland 20 goals in the contest.
  • TJ Dalicandro got on the board with 6:17 left in the match. The final goal of the contest came from Cortland's Sean Olvany, who got an assist from Colton Hornquist. WNE fell 21-5 versus Cortland.
  • The final stats from Wednesday's opening-round matchup saw Cortland lead in almost every category. They had more shots (35-34), shots on goal (25-17), ground balls (42-25), saves (12-4), and faceoff wins (18-11). WNE's defense caused more turnovers (11-10), though.
Inside the Lines:
  • The Red Dragons defeated the Golden Bears 21-5 in round one of the NCAA postseason tournament.
  • Drew Williamee led Cortland with seven points, including four goals and three assists.
  • Caden Morra and Stefan Swedlund both recorded hat-tricks for the Red Dragons in the opening-round contest.
  • Cortland had five players who recorded four or more points during the game.
  • WNE was led by the CNE tournament MVP, who had two goals and an assist for three points in the game.
  • Charlie Falowski led Cortland in goal by making ten saves and letting up four goals for a .714 save percentage.
Up Next on the Schedule:
  • The Golden Bears' conference-winning season ends in Cortland, New York, with the loss. They finish their season with a 13-7 overall record.