Cardinals complete comeback

By Liam Sample

On the road against a conference opponent, The SUNY Plattsburgh women’s lacrosse team’s late game comeback came up short against the Buffalo State Bengals April 9 at Coyer Field, with a final score of 13-8. 

Coming into this game, Plattsburgh picked up back to back wins, outscoring opponents 29-12 in this stretch. Despite the final outcome of the game, the Cardinals still played strong.

In the first five minutes of action, they wasted no time getting on the score sheet. First year attacker Maddy Garcia set up the team leader in goals, junior Caroline Noia who scored less than 90 seconds into the game. Noia’s great season continues and she moves up to fourteen tallies on the season.

Sophomore midfielder Jordan Kowalski scored her own a little over two minutes later to put the Cards up two. This was an unassisted effort for the sophomore. 

At the end of the first, the Bengals battled back. Sophomore attacker Sarah Fineour scored with 1 minute and 21 seconds and :40 remaining in the quarter to tie the game. She finished the game with four scores, which was the most of any player for both sides. 

Buffalo State struck first in the second. Plattsburgh managed to tie it before the midpoint of the quarter, with first year Nicole Resnick scoring her second collegiate goal. 

The Bengals then caught fire, scoring the next seven goals consecutively to make the score 10-3. This included a pair by both senior attacker Liz Schultheis and first year attacker Sage Running Rabbit. 

While this was the low point of the game for Plattsburgh, they still finished with a lead in many of the statistical categories. They held a 43-22 advantage in shots and 33-15 in shots on goal. They also lead 27-22 in ground balls and 15-10 in draw controls. 

A part of Buffalo State’s success is attributed to senior goalie Janae Nelson who made a career high 25 saves, which was one short of tying the single game program record for the school. Without many of her big stops, the results may have been different. 

For the Cardinals, sophomore Johanna Malone made the start and gave up eight on one save. Junior Lilla Nease played the final 12:30 and made one save while allowing five. 

Plattsburgh broke up the run with Kowalski and first year attacker Caitlin Nash scoring back to back goals at the midpoint of the third. This cut the Bengals lead in half to make the score 10-5. 

They did not stop there, after letting up another opposing goal, senior Emily Caoili scored a pair of her own in a two and a half minute stretch at the end of the third. She now is up to ten scores on the season and extends her goal streak to three games. 

Kowalski picked up an assist on Caoili’s second, and led the team with four points. In all of her games played this season, she has managed to grab multiple points in each. 

Of all the goal scorers for both sides, two come from their respective school’s hockey teams. Running Rabbit appeared in 23 hockey games for the Bengals and finished the year with six points, while Kowalski had one assist in fourteen games for the Cardinals. While she did not score, Nease appeared in seven games in goal for the hockey team, having a 5-1-0 record. 

Now only up four, Buffalo State scored the dagger to swing the momentum in their favor. Only one minute and 23 seconds into the fourth, first year Tala Abdellatif scored her second of the game to make the score 12-7.Plattsburgh tried to get back into it, with Nash getting another with just over minutes remaining. Her spectacular first year continues with a pair in this game, as she is third in the team in goals with eleven.

This is where Plattsburgh ran out of gas and the opponent scored one more before the end of regulation to put the game away. The game was of extra importance for Buffalo State as it was their senior day, with Schultheis and Nelson commarated for the school. 

The Bengals move to 5-4 on the season and 1-2 in conference, with Plattsburgh falling to 3-5 overall with the same record within the conference. At this early stage of the season, the SUNYAC remains close, with four wins separating first and last place. 

Buffalo State host the Oswego Lakers April 13in another critical conference matchup. The Cardinals look to bounce back as they return home to take on the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons on the same day. They follow that with a crucial conference game against a strong opponent in SUNY Geneseo April 16 the road.