PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The second-seeded Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team staved off a comeback by third-seeded The College at Brockport in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament semifinals Wednesday afternoon at the Field House Complex, and the Cardinals relied on a caused turnover by senior long-stick midfielder Kyle Espejo (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) in the final minute of play to escape with an 8-7 victory over the Golden Eagles.
 
Plattsburgh State will look to win its first-ever SUNYAC title on Saturday, May 6, when it visits fourth-ranked and top-seeded SUNY Cortland in the conference championship game at 1 p.m. The Cardinals rise to 11-5 overall with the win, while Brockport finishes its season at 8-6 overall with the loss.
 
In a rematch of last year's SUNYAC Tournament semifinal that the Golden Eagles won, 7-6, Brockport nearly erased a four-goal deficit by scoring four of the game's final five markers. Following the Golden Eagles' goal by senior attackman Jake Giudice on a feed from freshman midfielder Kieran Fitzgerald that trimmed the deficit to one with 3:31 left in regulation, Plattsburgh State won the ensuing face-off, but a violation in the crease that nullified a would-be Cardinal goal with 2:39 left in the fourth quarter gave the ball back to Brockport. The Golden Eagles successfully cleared the ball and kept possession in their offensive zone before two timeouts were called—one by each team.
 
Coming out of the second timeout, Brockport tried to work some offense to provide the equalizer. With under a minute to go in the fourth quarter, Espejo jarred the ball loose out of a Brockport student-athlete's crosse, and he came up with the ground ball to give the Cardinals possession. They successfully cleared the ball, and senior attackman Ryan Callahan (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) prevented a ball from going out of bounds with 11 seconds left to help Plattsburgh State maintain possession. Following a Cardinal timeout, Plattsburgh State bled the clock out by having junior attackman Ryan Hubbard (Aquebogue, N.Y./Riverhead) evade Brockport defensemen along the end line.
 
Hubbard opened scoring with 9:10 left in the first quarter, while Giudice scored with 3:53 remaining in the first to tie the game at 1-all. With 21 seconds left in the period, however, senior midfielder Mike Gay (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) cashed in on a Hubbard feed to hand the Cardinals a 2-1 lead through 15 minutes of play.
 
Espejo's ground ball on the opening draw of the second quarter gave junior face-off specialist Joe Eiseman (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East) the face-off win, and Espejo lofted the ball back to Eiseman over several Golden Eagles. Eiseman then took the ball in transition and found Hubbard, who scored just under the crossbar to stake the Cardinals to a 3-1 lead. Sophomore attackman Matt Malecki tallied midway through the period to pull Brockport within one, but Plattsburgh State retaliated with scores by senior midfielder Austin Belz (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) and Hubbard, with Belz's goal being assisted by Gay. Brockport's Giudice converted on a man-up chance with 1:09 left in the first half thanks to a pass from senior attackman Mark Robinson to cut the gap to 5-3 heading into the intermission.
 
Espejo buried his third goal of the year 3:39 into the third quarter on a pass from senior defensive midfielder Collin Cunningham (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) before senior midfielder Nick DeCeglia (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) connected with junior midfielder Billy Moller (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) for a man-up score with 3:04 remaining in the third. Brockport started its end-of-the-game surge on the ensuing possession, as junior face-off specialist Michael Caternolo won the draw and ran straight to goal before tallying on a bounce shot just seven seconds after Moller's marker.
 
In the fourth quarter, Brockport's sophomore attackman Jake Recor found the back of the net on a pass from Giudice, while Hubbard fed Gay for a goal in response less than a minute later. Giudice converted on a man-up opportunity on a pass from Robinson with 5:38 left in the fourth quarter, while Giudice scored again two minutes later to make it a one-goal game.
 
Both teams were evenly matched on the stat sheet, with Brockport outshooting Plattsburgh State 32-31 and the Cardinals outgaining the Golden Eagles in ground balls, 30-27. Brockport went a perfect 17-for-17 on clears, while Plattsburgh State was 14-for-15 in transition. The Golden Eagles went 2-for-4 on extra-man opportunities, while the Cardinals went 1-for-2.
 
Hubbard led the Cardinals with five points on three goals and two assists, while Gay tallied three points on two goals and one assist. Espejo, Belz and Moller all scored, while Cunningham, Eiseman and DeCeglia each offered an assist. Eiseman was one of the key reasons why Plattsburgh State won, going 10-for-13 at the X while scooping up six ground balls.
 
For Brockport, Giudice led the way with five points on four goals and one assist, while Robinson dished out two helpers. Recor, Malecki and Caternolo all scored, while Fitzgerald added an assist. Caternolo and junior midfielder/face-off specialist Zach Cook helped the Golden Eagles gain possession with five and four ground balls, respectively.
 
Junior goalie Austin Graham (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) came up big in between the posts for the Cardinals, making 10 stops in the win to move to 7-3 for the season. Junior goalie Dallas Meyers made nine saves in the loss for Brockport.