MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Looking to avenge a slim 2014 home defeat at the hands of Middlebury College, the Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team found itself on the wrong end of the scoreboard against the Panthers once again, falling to their NESCAC foes by a 10-6 score on Tuesday evening at Kohn Field.

Senior James Read amassed a game-high four points for the Cardinals who slip to 0-2 in 2015. Austin Belz scored twice for Plattsburgh State who finished 3-for-7 on the man advantage and outshot the Panthers (1-1) 44-36. 

Much like what came to pass in their initial outing of the 2015 campaign, the Cardinals found themselves forced to play catch-up after the Panthers jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. Joel Blockowitz, Jack Cleary and Henry Riehl each snuck one past Plattsburgh State netminder Matt Massaria in the first 6:24 of the game.

After not hitting pay dirt on the man-up opportunity in their season opener, the Cardinals did so on their first opportunity of the day on Tuesday. Belz pumped in his second of the season with just 10 seconds remaining in the frame to pull the Cardinals within two headed to the second.

The sophomore out of Bayport, N.Y., pulled the Cardinals within one with his second of the afternoon with about five minutes remaining before halftime. Belz's second score was also of the man-up variety. Just one more goal came in the period, though, and unfortunately for the Cardinals it was Cleary who scored it, giving the Panthers a 4-2 lead heading to the mid-game break.

Middlebury increased its lead to 6-2 by netting another pair of scores in the opening 8:55 of the third. An unlikely figure, though, was there to narrow the deficit for the visitors. Final-year man Andrew Tralongo bolted up the field and left a slow-footed gang of Panther defenders in the rearview mirror before registering his first-ever goal as a collegian with 4:22 to go.

Tim Giarrusso, though, wrapped up the offensive production in the penultimate frame by sending a ball past Massaria. That left the Cardinals at a 7-3 disadvantage heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

Read was the catalyst of all the Plattsburgh State offense early on in the final stanza. Just 19 seconds had wound off the clock before the senior out of Miller Place, N.Y., beat Middlebury goalie Will Ernst for his third score of 2015.

Not even 40 seconds later, freshman Ryan Hubbard accepted a feed from Read and pulled the Cardinals within two, 7-5, by way of his first goal as a collegian.

The Panthers, though, stretched their advantage to three once again with 12:20 to go in the game when Sean Carroll tallied the second man-up marker of the game for the home team. Returning the favor just three minutes later, though, was Brendan Damm. The 2014 All-American made it an 8-6 tilt with his fourth of the season.

Unfortunately, some costly Plattsburgh State penalties down the stretch allowed the Panthers to put the game away. The home team fired in two more scores while on the man advantage in the last 8:45 to earn the win.

Joey Kromer scooped up a game-best six ground balls and emerged as the victor in 10 of his 20 faceoff opportunities. Senior Peter Johann caused a pair of turnovers and added three more ground ball pickups for the visitors.

In the loss, Massaria stopped 10 shots while his counterpart Ernst made 19 saves. Cleary finished with a game-high three goals while Giarrusso and Riehl chipped in two apiece.

In order to arrive at their next 2015 tilt, the Cardinals will fly south to Uniondale, N.Y. There, the squad will meet up with Kean University at the Mitchel Athletic Complex. The neutral site bout is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Friday.