Two records fell Friday as Anthony Irizarry (Middletown/Middletown H.S.) led the Tompkins Cortland Community College lacrosse team to a 19-12 win over Union County College (N.J.). Irizarry set new standards for points and goals in a game, scoring 16 points on 11 goals and 5 assists to help the Panthers improve to 5-2 on the year. Union remains winless in six games.
After Union opened the game with the first two goals, Irizarry got the Panthers started with his first goal coming with 7:13 left in the first quarter. Union responded to make it 3-1, but the Panthers took advantage of penalties on the Owls to score three goals in a 32-second span to take a 4-3 lead. Jack Collmer (Vernon/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) capped the first-quarter scoring with a goal with 1:43 left to put the Panthers in front 5-3 at the end of the quarter.
Union scored first in the second quarter, cutting the lead to 5-4 before the Panthers rattled off three straight to make it 8-4 with 8:00 left in the half. The teams traded a pair of goals before Tompkins Cortland scored the final three goals of the quarter – including two in the final 8.9 seconds – to take a 12-6 lead into halftime.
The lead ranged from five to seven the rest of the way, with Irizarry closing out the scoring with his final goal with 1:18 left in the game. The final score gave Irizarry his record-setting 11th goal, passing the mark of 10 set by Nick Velazquez in 2014. Adding his five assists, he also set a Tompkins Cortland record with 16 points, passing the old record of 11 originally set by Orazio Ciaschi in 2014 and tied earlier this season by Irizarry.
Collmer finished with the game with three goals and an assist. Derek Sammartino (Saddle Brook, N.J./Pascack Hills H.S.) had two goals and two assists and Padraic Iannello (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) had two goals and one assist. Ian Kilts (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) added a goal for the Panthers. Bryan Iannello (Dryden/Dryden H.S.) recorded nine saves in goal.
The Panthers return to Region III action for the rest of the season, starting Tuesday at home against Finger Lakes Community College.