POTSDAM, N.Y.--Tommy Kilderry had career highs of four goals and six ground balls off the bench on Wednesday, but it wasn't enough as visiting Plattsburgh State lost an 18-11 decision at the hands of Potsdam State in State University of New York Athletic Conference action. That means that the Cardinals (10-6 overall, 1-4 SUNYAC) have been eliminated from conference playoff contention, while the 6-7 Bears are tied with Brockport for the fourth and final spot with 2-3 SUNYAC marks.

"The key to the game was (bad) goaltending. We inserted Danny Caufield in the second quarter and he stopped the bleeding a little bit by making nine saves. But the damage was already done," Cardinals coach P.J. Kavanagh said after the game. "Potsdam did a good job in transition and we did not shoot very smart." 

Garrett Sharp led the Bears with seven goals, and Sean McAulliffe added three goals and two assists.

Both teams were back and forth in the first quarter as the Bears held a 4-3 margin after Sharp scored his first of the game with 33 seconds remaining.  After another Potsdam tally, the Cardinals tied it 5-all on goals by Kyle Norchi and Kilderry.  However, the Bears then went on a five-goal outburst to go up 10-5 with 6:51 remaining in the second quarter and never relinquished the lead after that.  The Bears were ahead 11-8 at halftime.

Luke Flegar and Kilderry had unassisted goals early in the third quarter to help Plattsburgh keep pace at 12-10 down. But the Bears scored six of the game's last seven goals to seal the victory.

The Cardinals led virtually every statistical category--except on the scoreboard:  43 to 39 in shots, 30 to 26 in ground balls, 20 to 11 in face-off wins and 37 (-of-38) to 35 (-of-35) in clears.

Billy Richards came up big in the Potsdam goal as he had 17 saves.