OSWEGO, N.Y. – Seeking his fourth-straight berth to the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament, Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse coach Ryan Cavanagh led his squad into enemy territory and secured a hard-earned conference triumph – all while etching his name into the Cardinals' history books in the process.
 
Brendan Damm exploded for a whopping seven goals and three assists while final-year man Jack Felter ripped in six scores of his own as the Cardinals roasted the Lakers 18-10 at South Athletic Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
Not only did Plattsburgh State improve to 11-5 and 3-2 in league bouts with their latest victory, but Cavanagh surpassed former Plattsburgh State head man P.J. Kavanagh as the program's all-time leader in wins (49).
 
In search of their first conference triumph of 2015, the Lakers came out firing, scoring three of the game's first five goals to take a 3-2 lead with 4:37 remaining in the first quarter.
 
Damm and Felter made sure the visitors wouldn't trail again when they each struck for a goal in the final minute of the initial 15-minute frame. Felter's go-ahead score came courtesy of a slick pass from senior James Read who finished with one goal and three helpers on the afternoon.
 
An All-American out of Montauk, N.Y., Damm figured prominently into each of the Cardinals' strikes in the second. He provided Plattsburgh State's third man-up delivery of the day with 9:04 to go before dishing the ball to freshman Ryan Hubbard who upped the Plattsburgh State advantage to 6-4 with his sole strike of the skirmish.
 
Led by a strong outing by Matt Palmer, the Lakers refused to go down quietly. Palmer knotted matters at six-all with 12 minutes to go in the third with Oswego's second man-up notch of the day.
 
From there, though, the Cardinals began the process of putting some considerable distances between themselves and the Lakers. Read blasted a shot past Lakers' netminder Wyatt Russo before Felter pumped in two straight in the span of 42 seconds which upped Plattsburgh State's lead to 9-6.
 
Read found sophomore Austin Belz in the late stages of the third and the Bayport, N.Y., product closed the books on the visitor's four-goal third with five seconds to go in the frame.
 
The final 15 minutes saw the Cardinals unleash an all-out assault on the Lakers by piling up eight goals during that span. Belz converted on the game-winning score just 25 seconds into the quarter thanks to an assist from Mike Gay before Damm further demoralized the Lakers by netting three straight scores in a 2:20 span.

Before everything was said and done, Felter would sling in two more and Damm would finish his monstrous afternoon with one more goal. Mitchell LaBianca also scored for the Cardinals in their lopsided fourth-quarter.
 
On the draw control, Joey Kromer came away with 15 wins in 28 attempts and scooped up a game-high six ground balls. In 54:42, Matt Massarai made eight saves to improve to 11-5 between the pipes.
 
Special teams was one of the primary pieces of the Cardinals' win as they went 6-for-10 on man-up opportunities while outshooting their rivals 56-34 in the 60-minute clash.
 
Palmer scored four goals for Oswego in the loss and Russo made 16 saves.
 
With a second-place SUNYAC standing on the line, the Cardinals will return to their home nest of the Field House Lacrosse Complex to engage in on-field warfare with longtime North Country nemesis SUNY Potsdam. Plattsburgh State's final tilt of the 2015 regular season will commence at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night.