The Plattsburgh State men’s lacrosse team returns home Wednesday to face the Engineers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute after losing five consecutive games on the road.
The Cardinals (1-5) fell 12-7 at Middlebury College Tuesday in a game in which they never led. Three goals from senior attackman Ryan Hubbard and two from senior midfielder Billy Moller were insufficient to outpace the Panthers (3-2).
“Middlebury is one of the premier Division III lacrosse teams,” PSUC head coach Joe May said.
The loss came at the tail end of a five-game stretch of road games after which PSUC returned home winless. Losses at Skidmore, Clarkson, Swarthmore were coupled by a loss to Wheaton College at St. Anthony’s High School.
The closest the Cards came to winning came in Potsdam, New York against Clarkson, when a goal by Moller with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter forced overtime before the Golden Knight scored in the second extra period.
After the series of losses, PSUC is led offensively by Hubbard’s 19 goals and Moller’s 10. Defensively, senior Sean Hayes and sophomore Kyle Smith each collected a total of 13 ground balls, trailing only senior faceoff specialist Travis Mauro.
In goal for the Cards, senior Austin Graham posted a .508 save percentage in four starts to date, while senior Donald Tesoriero and freshman Kyle Dodge followed with .500 save percentages in one start each, with Tesoriero making two additional appearances in relief of Graham.
After the losses, PSUC returns home to face RPI (4-1) in the final non-conference game before beginning SUNYAC play. The Engineers are paced on offense by junior attackman Cliff Kigar and senior attackman Zach Lukas, along with a .635 save percentage from senior goalie Parker Smith.
The Cards have lost each of their last four contests against RPI, with the last victory coming on the road in 2013.
“RPI has had our number for the last couple years,” May said. “Those are good hard-fought battles.”
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