Box Score CORTLAND, N.Y.  – It was a fight to the finish on Saturday afternoon as the Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team demonstrated tremendous resiliency in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Finals, but the Cardinals were unable to score the game-tying tally in the final seconds and suffered an 11-10 loss to nationally-ranked No. 8 Cortland at the Stadium Complex.
 
Cortland (15-3) got off to a quick start with Matt Savlov's 12^th of the year at the 13:18 mark of the first quarter. The Red Dragons added another at 9:59 when Zach Hopps scored a man-up goal to make it 2-0 in favor of the home team. Hopps struck again late in the quarter giving Cortland a 3-0 advantage at the end of one.
 
As the rain began to fall, Cortland's Benjamin Dunlavey netted a man-up goal with 49 seconds off the clock in the second but a solo effort by Robbie Ashlaw just 23 seconds later put Plattsburgh State (13-6) on the board.
 
A little over three minutes later, Ashlaw tallied his second of the afternoon to cut the Cardinals' deficit to 4-2 and breathe new life into the Plattsburgh State bench. Rookie Joe Eiseman won the draw, giving Plattsburgh State a key possession and senior Tim Lawrence kept the momentum rolling with his first of the game at the 10:57 mark to bring the Cardinals within one.
 
Late in the quarter, Cortland's Patrick Brown made it a 5-3 game before back-to-back goals from the Cardinals evened the score at 5-5. Brendan Damm came in all alone from behind the cage and ripped a shot past Cortland goalie Scott Tota before Damm assisted on Lawrence's man-up goal that served as the equalizer with 38 seconds left in the quarter. The Red Dragons responded with a goal in the final seconds of the half, sending Cortland to the locker room with a 6-5 lead.
 
Cortland's Joe Slavik opened the third quarter with his 15^th of the season before Hopps completed his hat trick at the 13:02 mark to extend the Red Dragons lead to 8-5. A few minutes later, Ashlaw set up Tom Duggan, who sent a low shot by Tota to make it a two-goal game but Cortland quickly responded at 9:10 to regain a three-goal lead. The Red Dragons maintained control, scoring the next two, before senior Anthony Pafundi converted on an extra-man-opportunity to bring the score to 11-7 at the end of three quarters.
 
The Cardinals closed the gap in the fourth by scoring the final four goals of the game – two from Pafundi and two from Ashlaw – to make it a one-goal game with 1:24 to play. Plattsburgh State had one final chance to tie it up with six seconds left in regulation when Brendan Damm blasted a shot at the corner of the net. The Cardinals' bench and the large contingent of Plattsburgh State fans in attendance reacted to what seemed to be the game-tying goal but the ball hit the outside part of the net before Tota scooped up the ball and sent it down the field as time expired.
 
Plattsburgh State outshot Cortland, 43-39, while the Red Dragons held a 43-32 edge in ground balls. Both sides went 3-for-5 on extra-man opportunities.
 
Ashlaw led the Cardinals with five points on four goals and one assist while Lawrence added two goals and an assist. Pafundi chipped in two goals, Damm scored a goal and an assist and Duggan scored once. Eiseman won 10 face-offs and senior Courtney Cox led Plattsburgh State with five ground balls. Defensively, Ashlaw also helped the Cardinals' with a team-high two caused turnovers.
 
Hopps finished with three goals and an assist for the Red Dragons. Mike Cantello scored three points while Matt Rakoczy and Slavik contributed two points apiece. Pat Baldwin won 15-of-24 draws and picked up a game-high nine ground balls. Brown led the defense with three caused turnovers.
 
Senior Andrew Hauk gave the Cardinals a valiant effort, stopping 14 shots in the loss. Tota recorded nine saves to earn Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
 
Ashlaw was rewarding for his outstanding performance with a spot on the All-Tournament Team while senior defenders Cox and Frank Gargiulo also represented Plattsburgh State. Joining Tota on the All-Tournament Team were Rakoczy, Hopps, J.T. Foltz and Stephen Burke of Cortland. Brandon Hickey and Danny Stern of Oneonta and Rob Kunz and Ryan Duffy of Potsdam rounded out the squad.
 
The fate of the Cardinals now sits in the hands of the NCAA selection committee. The field for the 2014 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament will be announced Sunday at 10 p.m. in a live selection show on NCAA.com. Should Saturday's game mark the end of the Cardinals' season, it is worth noting the 2014 senior class will end its careers as the winningest class in program history (48-23). The class of 12 (Ashlaw, Lawrence, Cox, Gargiulo, Duggan, Hauk, Pafundi, Charlie Dullea, Alex Carnaxide, Ryan Braithwaite, Erik Howard and Joe Mantovani) has made three straight trips to the SUNYAC Tournament and advanced to the SUNYAC Finals twice – the only two appearances in program history.