ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University football team defense faced consistent pressure in their 31-8 loss to SUNY Cortland on Saturday afternoon from Yunevich Stadium.
 
The Saxons (2-6, 1-3 Empire 8) were limited to just five first downs, while the Red Dragons (8-0, 5-0 Empire 8) put together 502 yards of offense.
 
Alfred University was led by their defense, as Joe Copp (Minoa, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) finished with a game-high 22 tackles, marking the fourth-highest total in a single game in program history. Christopher Cox (Rochester, NY/Pittsford-Sutherland) forced not one, but two interceptions to go alongside 13 tackles. Adam Mietz (Akron, NY/Akron) totaled a career-high 12 tackles, seven of which were solo.

"I'm proud of our guys for playing 60 minutes of tough football this afternoon," Head Coach Bob Rankl said. "I really feel like they were some plays that could have been made by that could have changed the outcome of the game. That being said, I give credit to a very good Cortland team for beating us today. We have two games remaining and we are going to compete in every aspect of the game. That is my top priority for our football team moving forward."
 
The Saxons defense stepped up early on, rejecting the Red Dragons' fourth down attempt from Alfred's 17-yard line on their first drive. On the next possession Cox brought in his first interception of the game from Alfred University's end zone, bringing it back to the 28-yard line.
 
Cortland got themselves on the scoreboard in the opening minutes of the second quarter thanks to a five-yard passing touchdown. A seven-play drive from Cortland was ended due to Cox's second interception of the game, which he returned to Alfred's 28-yard line. Later in the quarter, the Red Dragons found the end zone from a two-yard rush to extend their lead entering halftime, 14-0.
 
The Red Dragons began the second half with a lengthy 13-play drive that ended with a 29-yard field goal, as the Saxons trailed 17-0. Cortland put themselves back in field goal range moments later, but it missed wide left. In the fourth quarter, the Red Dragons scored once again to put the Saxons behind, 24-0. Alfred University responded with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Zuke Smith (Kane, PA/Kane Area) to Jacob Kelsey (Hilton, NY/Hilton) for the team's first points of the game. The Red Dragons found the end zone once more before the final horn, securing themselves as the Empire 8 Champions for the 2022 season with a 5-0 conference record.
 
Alfred University will next travel to face Utica University next Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 PM.