By Liam Sample
The Plattsburgh State women’s lacrosse team lost a tough non-conference battle to the Clarkson University Golden Knights by a score of 18-5 Tuesday, March 22 at the Field House.
The Cardinals have now lost back to back games, bringing them to a 1-4 record. Clarkson has been rolling to begin their season, starting it on a six-game win streak, which they extended with this win.
It was a slow start to the game, with the Golden Knights leading by two at the 10 minute, 3-second mark of the first. Plattsburgh tried to get back into it.
With possession in the offensive zone, junior midfielder Caroline Noia showed off her shiftiness, taking the ball from the near side through defenders to the far side. While in motion, she sent a beautiful pass over two opposing sticks to sophomore Fiona Fitzgerald, who moved to her right and beat the keeper to get the Cards on the board with 8:03 left in the first. This was her second score of the season.
Now down 4-1, Noia scored one of her own with 3:07 remaining in the first. In Clarkson’s zone again, the junior created a lengthy possession where she attempted to make moves to break the defenders in front of her. After cutting to the inside to find space, she took a long shot to cut the deficit in half for the second time in the quarter. This goal came under a minute after a timeout.
From this goal, it was all Clarkson. The team scored 14 unanswered, including three more before the end of the first, six in the second, three in the third, and one to start the fourth. Junior Julia Lavarnway had six points on four goals and two assists, with sophomore Madelynn Barnum matching that point total on five goals and an assist. The sophomore has 25 goals in the first five games of the season for the team lead. This was the Golden Knights best defensive showing this season, allowing their least amount of goals of the season to this point. Senior Sydney Christiansen played the first 42:08 as keeper, allowing two and saving five. She was replaced by fellow senior Laura Wing, who gave up three.
For the Cardinals, sophomore Johanna Malone made the start. She was pulled after 23:33 of play due to giving up twelve on five saves. Her replacement was senior Alexa Cassidy, who stopped six and allowed the same amount.
Plattsburgh found some life in the fourth, scoring three straight to finish the game. First year Rachel Lamar started the late rally with her first collegiate goal. With distance to the goal and space in front of her, she took off. After getting to the goalie’s left, she fired a shot to make the score 18-3. This came with 11:34 remaining in the game.
In the final three minutes of play, Noia and first year Maddy Garcia both tallied scores. Garcia moves to four goals in her first five collegiate games, while Noia finished the game with four points on two goals and two assists, leading the team in points.
Plattsburgh finished trailing 38-17 in shots, but did force 16 Clarkson turnovers throughout the game.
“Although our team lost, it was a great game to watch in terms of seeing how much our program has grown skillswise from the first year, ” senior attacker Allie Vangas said. “In the first period, we were only down 4-2 to a team that is 5-0. The girls did a great job when it came to controlling the ball in midfield and causing turnovers as well.”
The Cardinals travel to Cortland to take on the No. 24 Red Dragons Saturday, March 26 in Plattsburgh’s 2022 SUNYAC opener. They have a tough opponent in Cortland, who is nationally ranked, but has had a rough start to the season with a 2-4 record.
