PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's soccer team scored three unanswered goals in the second half to pull away from Salve Regina University, earning a 4-1 season-opening victory over the Seahawks on day one of the Best Western Plus Cardinal Classic on Friday afternoon at the Field House Soccer Complex.
 
If Plattsburgh State (1-0-0) wins its 3:30 p.m. encounter against Medaille College tomorrow, the Cardinals will automatically be crowned as Best Western Plus Cardinal Classic champions by virtue of overall points. However, the Cardinals can still claim that title even with a draw or a loss, depending on the result of the 1 p.m. game between Salve Regina and SUNY Potsdam. Potsdam and Medaille tied, 1-1, in the Best Western Plus Cardinal Classic opener.
 
The Cardinals struck first in the 13th minute, as junior midfielder Ian Spear (Peru, N.Y./Peru) blasted a shot into the right-hand corner of the goal off of a nifty tap pass from senior forward Alexis Archilla (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley). That was the only offense in the first half, as the home team entered the locker rooms with a slim 1-0 edge at the intermission.
 
It took just 6:20 into the second half for Salve Regina to level the tally, as senior back Steven Aston scored off of a direct kick served in by senior forward/midfielder Evan Dudney. Plattsburgh State countered minutes later, however, as junior midfielder Nicholas Laurent (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) received a cross from Spear and tapped it into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
 
Plattsburgh State added insurance in the 68th minute when Archilla drew contact and fed the ball to sophomore forward Chris Robertson (Thiells, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional [N.J.]), who then proceeded to tuck it into the lower right corner of the net. The Cardinals rounded out their scoring less than two minutes later when the recently-inserted sophomore forward Alex Price (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) found the back of the net off of a pass from Robertson.
 
Plattsburgh State finished with the upper hand in shots (15-6) and corner kicks (5-3).
 
Junior goalkeeper Andrew LaClaustra (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) made one stop in his Cardinal debut, while sophomore goalkeeper Michael Payan turned aside four shots for the Seahawks.