The Plattsburgh State men’s lacrosse team split its first two games of the season in a 10-8 win against Skidmore College and 14-5 blowout loss against Clarkson University.
The Cardinals opened their season on the road after their first scheduled game against Castleton was postponed against Skidmore last Saturday in what was their third time playing on a full field this season as winter weather persisted. The team was able to pull off a close win against Thoroughbreds.
“We played a really strong game on both ends of the field,” head coach Joe May said.
PSUC finished the first half with a 6-4 goal advantage over Skidmore College, but the Thoroughbreds closed the gap and took the lead with three unanswered goals to start the final two periods.
“We let them go on a little run,” May said.
The Cards responded by scoring four-straight goals by four different Cardinals in the fourth quarter, making the most of their man-up chances and opportunities they created by moving the ball. Skidmore scored one more goal in the closing minutes, but the cushion PSUC built sealed the win.
“We started slow, but we didn’t throw in the towel,” May said. “We kept our composure and kept battling.”
Nine of the 10 goals the Cards scored were assisted. May was impressed with his team’s ball movement, an area of the game he and his coaching staff were looking to emphasize now that the dominant scorer in Ryan Hubbard has graduated from the program.
“We’re being unselfish,” May said. “We’re passing up good shots for great ones. We’re going to be spreading the ball around this year.”
Sophomore Stephen Kane led the team in goals with four.
PSUC’s faceoff unit had a good game, converting 81 percent of its opportunities.
Overall, May liked his team’s performance in its first game of the season, though he knows there’s plenty of time to build on the first win.
“We gave them a couple goals I wished we had back,” May said. “We left a couple goals on the table that I think we’re going to can in the future.”
The Cards continued their season Tuesday against Clarkson University in Potsdam where the Golden Knights delivered PSUC its first loss of the season.
Entering the game, the Cards were excited to face off against another North Country team.
“You love playing these games and these teams up north to see who rules the land up here,” May said.
The opening quarter ended close with a score of 4-3 in favor of Clarkson, but the game quickly spiraled for PSUC as they were outscored 10-2 in the remaining three quarters.
Clarkson’s duo of junior attackers Connor Bartlett and Pierce Currie scored four goals each for the Golden Knights.
Clarkson dominated the stat line across the board with the advantage in shots, ground balls, turnovers and faceoffs across four quarters.
The Cards will continue its road schedule next Wednesday when the play against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
