ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team opened up its 2016 campaign with a tough Western, N.Y. road game against No. 18 Nazareth, falling to the Golden Flyers 18-6.

Nazareth would open up a 2-0 lead when Troy Haefele hooked up with Luke Wooters both times for the Golden Flyer goals.

Plattsburgh State would answer when sophomore Billy Moller faked the defender before ripping a goal to cut the Nazareth lead to 2-1.

However from there, things would get out of hand for the Cardinals as Nazareth went on a seven goal run over the last four minutes of the first through the opening nine minutes of the second quarter. In that span, Nazareth capitalized on three man-up goals while Haefele and Paul Walter each scored two goals to make it 9-1 Golden Flyers.

Senior, Brendan Damm would get his lone goal of the game to end the Nazareth run with 4:43 remaining in the second. Damm would lead the Cardinals with eight shots on the afternoon.

Haefele would score his fifth of the day right before halftime as Nazareth outscored the Cardinals 5-1 in the first two quarters to take a 10-2 advantage into the locker room.

The Cardinals offense showed a glimmer of life in the third as Pat Nash, Mike Gay, and Ryan Callahan each found the back of the net but Nazareth would score six of its own in the third, including three from Wooters.

The fourth quarter remained fairly quiet as the Golden Flyers outscored the Cardinals 2-1 to claim the 18-6 victory. Austin Belz would get credited with the goal for Plattsburgh State in the fourth, netting his first on the season via the man-up.

The combination of Haefele and Wooters combined for 18 points as Haefele finished with seven goals and four assists while Wooters posted three goals and five assists.

In the dot, Plattsburgh State and Nazareth were virtually even as the Cardinals held a slight 14-13 edge. Senior, Joey Kromer went .500 in the game, going 13-for-26.

Plattsburgh State senior goaltender Matt Massaria played the opening 35 minutes of the game making six saves before turning way to freshman Keith Cakoyanis, who made five saves in the final 25 minutes. Nazareth's Scott Brown made 14 saves on 20 Cardinal shots.

The Golden Flyers outshot the Cardinals 41-31 and made four more saves than Plattsburgh State.

A big difference in the game were the clears. The Golden Flyers went 17-for-20 while pressuring the Cardinals on their attempts limiting them to 12-for-22 and preventing them from getting into transition.

The penalty department also favored Nazareth as they went 4-for-9 on the man up while Plattsburgh State went just 1-for-4.

With the loss, Plattsburgh State drops to 0-1 while Nazareth goes to 1-0.

The Cardinals next opponent won't be any easier as they play No. 11 Ohio Wesleyan on February 27 in Cold Spring Habor on Long Island.