PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's soccer team capped off its regular season in dominating fashion, defeating SUNY Canton, 4-1, in a non-conference match Tuesday evening at the Field House Soccer Complex.
 
Junior midfielder Nicholas Laurent (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) was the star of the show for the Cardinals, contributing on each of the team's four goals. He finished with two goals and two assists.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 12-5-1 overall with the win and next faces third-seeded Fredonia as the No. 6 seed in the first round of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 1 p.m. at Fredonia's University Stadium. Canton finishes its season at 6-11-1 overall with the loss.
 
Laurent scored unassisted just 58 seconds into the game, wresting the ball away from a Canton defender and tucking a shot inside the right post. Minutes later, Laurent fed the ball to freshman forward Sean Cray (Modena, N.Y./Wallkill) from the right wing, and Cray blasted the ball top shelf to hand the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Junior defender Jah-heem Lawitz (Albany, N.Y./Albany) was also credited with an assist on the play.
 
While Canton's sophomore midfielder Kyle Smith cashed in on a penalty-kick opportunity in the 17th minute, Plattsburgh State wasted no time retaliating, scoring just 12 seconds later. After the restart at midfield, Laurent laced a through ball to senior forward Chris Bowden (Commack, N.Y./Commack), and Bowden used a sliding strike from the right edge of the six-yard box to push the Cardinal advantage back out to two. Senior forward Alexis Archilla (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) was awarded a secondary assist on the play.
 
Finally, in the 62nd minute, freshman forward Kyle Pfaff (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) crossed a pass to sophomore forward Chris Robertson (Thiells, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional [N.J.]), who found the feet of Laurent at the top of the six-yard box. Laurent then turned a fired a ball past the Kangaroo goalkeeper to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead, which stood up down the stretch.
 
Plattsburgh State finished with a 26-7 edge in shots and a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Junior goalkeeper Andrew LaClaustra (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) earned the win in between the posts in just one half of play, while freshman goalkeeper Kiernan Kirby (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) closed out the game with 45 minutes of shutout action, making four saves. Canton's two goalkeepers combined to make seven stops.