PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team remained unbeaten in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play on Wednesday night at the Field House Complex, downing North Country rival SUNY Potsdam, 13-4.
 
The Cardinals dominated the stat sheet, finishing with a 57-28 edge in shots and a 44-17 cushion in ground balls. They also went 6-for-10 on extra-man opportunities and 14-for-15 on clear attempts. Potsdam, meanwhile, held a slight 11-for-21 margin in face-offs, though the Bears were hurt by penalties, sustaining 12 infractions for a total of 12:30.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 10-4 overall (5-0 SUNYAC) with the win and next hosts No. 5 SUNY Cortland at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, for the SUNYAC regular-season title and the top seed in the SUNYAC Tournament. Potsdam finishes its season at 4-9 overall (1-5 SUNYAC) with the loss.
 
Senior attackman Ryan Callahan (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) fired the opening salvo 2:08 into the contest with a man-up marker on a feed from senior midfielder Mike Gay (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot), and Callahan fed freshman midfielder Kevin Litchauer (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) for a goal midway through the second quarter to stake the Cardinals to a 2-0 lead through 15 minutes of play.
 
Junior midfielder Billy Moller (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) reached the back of the cage 2:14 into the second quarter, while Callahan buried his second man-up goal of the game midway through the period on a pass from senior midfielder Austin Belz (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point). Less than a minute later, junior attackman Ryan Hubbard (Aquebogue, N.Y./Riverhead) scored unassisted, and Gay connected with senior attackman Logan Lamothe (St. Albans, Vt./Bellows Free Academy) for a man-up score with 5:48 left before halftime to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead. Freshman midfielder Josh Huiatt put Potsdam on the board two minutes later before Lamothe netted Plattsburgh State's third man-up goal of the period on a Callahan helper with 1:42 left to hand the home team a 7-1 advantage at the half.
 
Hubbard wasted no time adding to the Cardinal lead in the second half, burying a shot past the Bear goalie 42 seconds into the third quarter. Belz found sophomore midfielder Joe Mineau (Albany, N.Y./Colonie) for a goal nearly three minutes later before Gay fed Belz for a man-up tally 2:02 after that. Junior attackman Eric Soderquist cashed in on a pass from freshman attackman Nick Henrie to net Potsdam's second goal of the game with 3:33 left in the third, while the Gay-to-Belz connection worked yet again with 54 seconds left in the period, serving as the team's sixth and final man-up goal of the contest.
 
In the fourth, Hubbard buried his SUNYAC-leading 40th goal of the year midway through the quarter, while Potsdam answered less than a minute later with a goal by freshman midfielder Nick Slate on a pass from Huiatt. Senior attackman Ryan Wilson (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) fed sophomore attackman Ryan Ehli (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) for a goal with 5:07 left in regulation, while Potsdam's senior attackman Michael Roukous converted on a pass from Soderquist with 2:56 remaining to round out the scoring in the contest.
 
Callahan (two goals and two assists), Belz (two goals and two assists) and Gay (four assists) all notched four points for the Cardinals, while Hubbard scored three times. Lamothe buried two goals, while Mineau, Litchauer, Moller and Ehli also scored. Wilson finished with an assist, his third of the season. Senior long-stick midfielder Kyle Espejo (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) scooped up a game-high five ground balls, while junior defenseman Sean Hayes (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue) caused two turnovers. Junior face-off specialist Travis Mauro (Northport, N.Y./Northport) excelled at the X, going 8-for-14 on face-offs.
 
For Potsdam, Soderquist and Huiatt each registered two points on one goal and one assist, while Slate (one goal), Roukous (one goal) and Henrie (one assist) rounded out the Bears' point-getters.
 
Junior goalie Austin Graham (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) earned the win in between the posts for the Cardinals with an eight-save evening in 45 minutes of work, while junior goalie Donald Tesoriero (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) stopped five shots in the final 15 minutes. Senior goalie Jack Bezek took the loss for Potsdam, making 25 saves.