Box Score MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Brendan Damm tallied seven points as the Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team defeated Morrisville State, 13-7, in a non-conference game at Drake Field Tuesday afternoon.
Plattsburgh State (4-1) opened the scoring an unassisted goal by Robbie Ashlaw at the 9:09 mark of the first quarter. Morrisville State (3-1) tied it up at 8:33 on Eliud Evans' goal before Damm and Anthony Pafundi scored the next two to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead. The Mustangs got one back with 4:58 remaining in the first as Louie Geswaldo trimmed the Plattsburgh State lead down to one.
A back-and-forth second quarter left the Cardinals with a slim 5-4 lead at the half. James Read scored Plattsburgh State's fourth goal of the game at the 10:34 mark of the second before Morrisville State answered back on Evans' second of the afternoon. Damm struck again with 2:43 left to make it 5-3 in favor of the Cardinals but the Mustangs got a man-up goal from Geswaldo with 32 seconds left to bring Morrisville State within one.
The Cardinals' offense took over in the third, scoring five goals to break away from the Mustangs. Damm opened the second half with back-to-back goals while Tom Duggan added a man-up goal and Ashlaw picked up his second of the game. Morrisville's Brendan Shannon found the back of the net with 36 seconds left in the third but Damm recorded his fifth of the game with 11 seconds left to stretch the Plattsburgh State lead to 10-5.
Plattsburgh State's Chris Fuger registered his first of the year to open the fourth quarter before Read and Duggan scored on extra-man opportunities to close out the scoring for the Cardinals. Morrisville State added two more before time expired to reach the 13-7 final.
Damm finished the day with five goals and two assists for the Cardinals. Read and Duggan each scored a pair of goals while Ashlaw recorded two goals and an assist. Freshman Joe Eiseman won 12-of-20 face-offs and picked up a game-high eight ground balls. Defensively, Frank Gargiulo had six caused turnovers for Plattsburgh State.
Geswaldo and Tom Rosaschi gave the Mustangs three points apiece while Evans and Shannon each added to points. Nick Perrotta led Morrisville State with five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
The Cardinals outshot the Mustangs, 48-34, and held a 41-35 edge in ground balls.
Andrew Hauk allowed five goals and recorded 13 saves to improve to 4-1 on the year for Plattsburgh State. Morrisville State goalie Chris Fiore racked up an impressive 22 saves in the loss.
Plattsburgh State opens its annual spring break trip on Saturday with a non-conference game against Haverford College at Manhasset High School. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
