Cortland's Mateo Marra, Matt Shultz, and Alex Lessman Named 2024 United Soccer Coaches All-Americans
Cortland Athletic Communications
Cortland graduate student midfielder Mateo Marra (Ossining), senior forward Matt Shultz (Oneonta), and graduate student defender Alex Lessman (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage) have been selected to the 2024 United Soccer Coaches Division III All-America team. Marra was named to the first team, Shultz was a third team honoree, and Lessman was chosen to the fourth team.
This is just the third time in program history that three players were named All-Americans in the same season, along with 1954 (Vincent Palmieri, Clarence Mepham, George McCabe) and 2021(Blake Aronson, Scott Cebollero, Anthony Ruggiero), and now makes 35 players to have earned All-America honors for Cortland.
Marra repeats as a first team All-America honoree, becoming just the fifth player to earn All-America honors in multiple seasons. He also joins Vincent Palmieri as one of two players in program history to be an All-America first team selection in two seasons. Marra appeared in 18 games for Cortland, finishing second on the team with 32 points on 13 goals and six assists, and tied for the team lead with four game-winning goals. He scored or assisted in each of the last five games this season. During the Red Dragons' run to a second consecutive State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title, Marra scored four goals and added an assist over three games in the conference tournament to earn SUNYAC All-Tournament Team and MVP honors. He was also named to the all-region first team and to the All-SUNYAC first team for the third year in a row this season.
Shultz led Cortland with 37 points on 17 goals and three assists across 24 games played. His 17 goals were second in the SUNYAC, and tied for 15th nationally, while he also contributed four game-winning goals to tie for the team lead. Shultz also became Cortland's career goals and points leader, setting marks of 42 goals and 100 points across four years for the Red Dragons. Shultz also netted the eventual game-winning goal for Cortland in the SUNYAC Finals. He was a first team all-region honoree for the second time earlier this week, and was named to the All-SUNYAC first team last month.
Lessman started 23 games on defense for the Red Dragons, and has been named SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Year and to the all-region first team this season. He contributed six points on two goals and two assists, including the game-tying goal in the regular season finale at Buffalo State. Lessman also played all 290 minutes for Cortland during its three SUNYAC Tournament contests, earning SUNYAC All-Tournament Team honors to help guide Cortland to back-to-back conference titles. He captained the back line to eight shutouts in games that he played, and Cortland allowed only 21 goals for the season.
Cortland finished the season with a 15-3-6 record, winning its second consecutive SUNYAC title. The Red Dragons advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament for the seventh time in the past eight seasons, and finished tied for 33rd nationally.
