By Justin Rushia
The Plattsburgh State men’s lacrosse team earned its first conference win since April 20, 2022, by defeating the Canton Kangaroos by a score of 19-6 April 9.
“It was great. Coming into the season with a new coach and a new group of guys, that was a main goal of ours,” senior midfielder Logan Vilardi wrote.
Plattsburgh had nine Cardinals record multi-point performances, led by sophomore attacker Dylan Ruland, who tallied five points with four goals and one assist.
Seniors Donald Woods and Ely Bruhns both added three points, with Woods securing a hat trick while Bruhns scored one goal and provided two assists.
Vilardi, first-year attacker Tatum Cipp and junior midfielder Tim Keenan each scored two goals, with Cipp netting the first goal of his career. First-year face-off specialist Owen O’Hara also scored his first career goal, and senior defender Matt Gannon contributed one assist on the day.
Sophomore midfielder/attacker Jamie Gipe and first-year midfielder Ethan Francey each recorded one goal and one assist for a total of two points. Sophomore attacker Justin Ortiz also contributed to the scoring with an assist.
Senior Jimbo Farrelly showed off in the face-off circle, winning 13 out of 19. Farrelly also picked up a game-high six ground balls.
“I feel like we had our first overall team win,” Nedbalski said. “The defense knew their assignments and did a great job and the offense was clicking with each other up top.”
Plattsburgh came out in dominant fashion, scoring the first seven goals of the contest.
The scoring barrage began five minutes into the first quarter when Woods capitalized on a penalty against Canton, netting a man-up goal assisted by Gipe. Ruland followed with his first goal at the 7:54 mark. Urso and Woods both added another goal apiece, giving Plattsburgh a 4-0 lead going into the second quarter.
“We had good success early on dodging the field, and again, Jimbo at the face-off X was having another very good day,” Nedbalski said.
Ruland struck again with an unassisted goal just one minute into the second quarter. Francey and Bruhns continued the momentum with back-to-back goals for Plattsburgh.
Canton finally got on the board at the 3:57 mark with a goal from Devin Guerriero, making the score 7-1.
Plattsburgh responded with three consecutive goals from Vilardi, Woods and Urso, giving the Cards the 10-1 advantage going into halftime.
The third quarter was even more impressive for the Cardinals. They outscored the Kangaroos 7-0, bringing the score to 17-1 by the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter remained quiet until the 8:37 mark when Canton broke Plattsburgh’s 10-goal scoring streak, scoring back-to-back goals on the Cards. O’Hara then ended whatever momentum the Kangaroos had with a transition goal assisted by Gannon.
Cipp knocked one more in for the Cardinals, sealing the game at 19-6.
“When you hold a team to six points, it speaks volumes to how well you’re playing,” Vilardi wrote. “Offensively, we played as a unit and all of our guys were contributing.”
Sophomore Cole Orehosky made 12 saves in over 39 minutes of play for Plattsburgh, earning him SUNYAC Athlete of the Week. Junior Jack Mulcahy added six saves in 12 minutes. Sophomore Zachary Nacheman and first-year Gavin McQueeney also played in goal for the Cardinals.
“We were having fun and finally showing what we can be when we play our brand of lacrosse,” Vilardi wrote.
Plattsburgh faced the New Paltz Hawks later that week April 12, where the Cards ultimately fell to the Hawks at home 9–10.
After finding out two hours into their trip that the game had been delayed two hours due to a scheduling issue, the Cardinals had to do their best to stay locked in during the wait.
“The guys did a good job adjusting their mindset, and their attitudes were all about being ready to go from the start, which was good to see,” Nedbalski said.
Plattsburgh’s offense started hot in the first quarter, scoring the first four goals of the game. Bruhns opened the scoring just 15 seconds into the match, followed by goals from Woods, Ruland and Keenan, giving Plattsburgh a 4-0 lead halfway through the quarter.
The Hawks finally got on the board at the 6:18 mark when Anthony Senecal took advantage of an extra-man opportunity, scoring a man-up goal assisted by Scully, making the score 4-1 in favor of the Cardinals. Vilardi quickly responded, restoring Plattsburgh’s four-goal lead. Following a back-and-forth exchange of goals, the Hawks ended the quarter with two consecutive goals, reducing the deficit to 6-4 for the Cardinals after the first quarter.
After a high-scoring first quarter, both teams’ offenses slowed in the second quarter, with each team scoring only two goals, giving the Cards an 8- 0 lead going into halftime.
The third quarter was a defensive battle. The Hawks held the Cardinals scoreless on five shots while adding one goal, narrowing Plattsburgh’s lead to 8-7 going into the fourth quarter.
Urso netted an unassisted goal just under a minute into the fourth, extending Plattsburgh’s lead to 9-7.
The Hawks scored three consecutive goals to take a 10-9 lead with 3:55 left in the game. With less than a minute remaining, the Cardinals had a chance to tie the game and got off two shots. Neither found the back of the net, giving the Hawks a 10-9 win.
The Plattsburgh will shift its focus to its matchup against the Oswego Lakers on April 19.
“I told the guys that every game is important. Every game is meaningful for the program,” Nedbalski said. “We’re definitely taking a lot of time this week to work on what we think is going to best suit us against Oswego.”
