After trailing most of the game, the Panthers men's lacrosse team rallied to put itself in a position to tie the game in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter against Hudson Valley Community College Friday night. But the Vikings closed out the game with three scores in the final three minutes to pull away for the 12-8 defeat of the Panthers. Tompkins Cortland is now 1-4 on the season while Hudson Valley is 4-6.
The first score of the belonged to the home team, with Thomas Boyle (Poughkeepsie/Arlington H.S.) breaking the ice just 80 seconds into play. The lead stood for nearly ten minutes, but the Hudson Valley ripped off three goals in the closing minutes of the first quarter to take a 3-1 lead into the first break.
The Vikings pushed the lead to 4-1 early in the second before goals by Alan Porter-Jackson (Buchanan/Hendrick Hudson H.S.) and De'Aundrey Bethea (Wyandanch/Bay Shore H.S.) cut the margin to 4-3. As they did in the first quarter, Hudson Valley ended the second quarter on a high note, scoring twice to make the score 6-3 at the half.
The Panthers came out strong after halftime, netting three goals in the first four minutes to tie the game at 6-6. But again, the Vikings had an answer, putting two in the net in a 40 second span to regain the lead at 8-6. Porter-Jackson scored his third goal of the third quarter to make it a one goal game again, but the Vikings had the last score to end the third leading 9-7.
A goal by Porter-Jackson with 9:01 left made it 9-8, but the Panthers couldn't find the equalizer. Several possessions came away empty on both sides before Hudson Valley scored with 2:41 left, and then sealed the win with a score with 1:09. The final margin came on a goal with two seconds left, giving the Vikings three goals in each quarter.
Porter-Jackson finished his game with five goals and an assist. Boyle, Bethea, and Billy Kozloski (Johnson City/Johnson City H.S.) each had a goal and Brandon Pignato (Greece/Greece Athena H.S.) had an assist.
Goalie Declan Fullerton (Westchester/Walter Panas H.S.) ended up with 14 saves for the Panthers.
Looking ahead
The Panthers host Genesee Community College on Friday, April 22. It's the last game of the season for the Panthers.