Box Score PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – One year ago, a first-year player by the name of Alexis Archilla took the field for the Plattsburgh State men's soccer team and provided the Cardinals with some game-winning scoring punch in their season-opening triumph.

While overtime dramatics were unnecessary at the Plattsburgh High School soccer field on Friday night, Archilla once again made his presence felt in a big way for the Cardinals as they rang in the 2014 campaign.

Archilla pumped in his first goal of the season and put the finishing touches on a three-point performance by providing an assist on the first goal of freshman Ian Spear's days a collegian as the Cardinals captured a 2-0 triumph over Fitchburg State in the second game of the 2014 Best Western-Ground Round Cardinal Classic.

Plattsburgh State moves to 1-0 on the season while the Falcons – who mustered just two shots during the 90-minute tilt – fall to 0-1. With the opening kick, Cardinals' head coach Chris Waterbury ushered in his 30^th season patrolling the Plattsburgh State sidelines and improved to 26-3-1 in season openers. The last time Waterbury and the Cardinals failed to emerge victorious in a season opener was 20 years ago.

For over 30 minutes, the Cardinals fired off shot after shot with senior striker Nick Parrella registering the first shot on goal during that span. It wasn't until Ethan Votraw sent a sharp pass up the field to Archilla that Plattsburgh State finally hit pay dirt.

With 30:18 gone in the opening frame, Archilla took Votraw's pass and fired a waist-high ball past Aiden Hanratty (0-1) – the 2013 NCAA Division III statistical champion in save percentage (.910) – to put the Cardinals up 1-0.

Hanratty had his work cut out for him against a Plattsburgh State front line that was eager to give its home crowd something to cheer about. He made five saves in the opening stanza as Plattsburgh State racked up 14 shots during that span.

With the first half in the books, the Cardinals wasted little time in picking up an insurance score in the final frame. An aggressive Plattsburgh State attack in the initial stages of the half yielded a pair of corner kick opportunities for the home squad, but it wasn't until the 51:52 mark that the Cardinals found themselves up 2-0.

A mad scramble in Fitchburg State territory would conclude with the ball finding its way to the foot of Archilla once again. The Warwick, N.Y., product then spied the first-year man Spear racing uncontested toward the Falcons' goal. The native of Peru, N.Y., needed only to tap the ball past a diving Hanratty to finish off the evening's scoring spree.

After dutifully biding his time in the mouth of the Cardinals' goal for over 75 minutes, junior Mitchell Jordon (1-0) deftly turned aside the first scoring opportunity the Falcons had all night. One-on-one with Fitchburg State's Jared Burns, Jordon took to the sky to stop a shot from the Falcon and keep his clean sheet intact.

The second and final stop of the evening for Bolton Landing, N.Y, product came in the 86^th minute when Kevin Aldrovandi ripped a shot which Jordan corralled with a dive.

All told, the Cardinals finished the non-conference battle with a 24-2 advantage in shots as well as a 9-1 edge in the corner kick department. Archilla collected a game-high six shots while Votraw and Nate Economou took three each.

Plattsburgh State returns to the field on Saturday afternoon with plans to hoist the 2014 Best Western-Ground Round Cardinal Classic trophy. Standing in the way of that particular goal will be Misericordia University. The matchup of two 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament participants is scheduled to get underway at 3:30 p.m.

Game One: Misercordia University 1, SUNY Potsdam 1 (2OT)
In the first game of the 2014 Best Western-Ground Round Cardinal Classic, SUNY Potsdam and Misericorida University battled to a 1-1 draw. 

The Cougars spent the majority of the initial frame controlling the play, but SUNY Potsdam didn't squander the few opportunities it was afforded. On the Bears' very first corner kick of the bout, Alex Minsker sent a long ball to Chris Schrum who beat Misercordia netminder Barry Fitzgerald with a well-timed header to put Potsdam up 1-0 after 9:58. 

Misericordia wouldn't net the equalizer until the second frame came about. With an odd-man rush taking place, the Cougars' Nick vonEgypt set up shop on the far side of the field and received a pinpoint ball from speedy freshman Niko Amity. vonEgypt didn't squander his opportunity and blasted the ball past Potsdam keeper Nick Davies. 

The teams would settle into a defensive battle for the remainder of the tilt as only five more shots on goal were recorded after vonEgypt's tally. 

With the score deadlocked at one after the two overtimes, the squad went to penalty kicks for tiebreaking purposes. Headed into the final round with the squads tied a four, Fitzgerald snuffed out the scoring attempt of Stephen Auyer while George Stock beat Davies to give the Cougars the penalty kick decision.