PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's soccer team topped non-conference SUNY Canton, 3-1, in its regular-season home finale at the Field House Complex Tuesday afternoon, as freshman midfielder Ankit Patel (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) scored the eventual game-winner in the 54th minute with his first collegiate goal.
 
The Cardinals outshot Canton, 17-10, in addition to holding a 6-1 edge in corner kicks. The Kangaroos fared well at putting shots on frame, as seven of their 10 shots went on goal.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 6-6-3 overall with the win and next visits Buffalo State on Friday, Oct. 19, for a 3 p.m. State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest. Canton drops to 7-7-2 overall with the loss and next visits Thomas College on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 3:30 p.m.
 
Senior midfielder Taka Fukushima (Noda, Japan/Municipal Kashiwa) scored at 39:21 to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead heading into the halftime intermission. Patel centered a pass to sophomore forward Michael Ciardullo (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) from the left wing, and Ciardullo toed a short pass to Fukushima at the top of the 18-yard box. Fukushima then curved a shot past an outstretched Canton keeper inside the right post. It marked the first point of Ciardullo's tenure as a Cardinal, as he registered five points during his freshman season at Misericordia University.
 
Patel buried his first collegiate goal in the 54th minute thanks to tic-tac-toe passing. Junior forward Sean Cray (Modena, N.Y./Wallkill) played a through ball to senior forward Alex Price (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) at the top of the 18-yard box, and Price quickly fed a pass to Patel on his left. Patel then one-touched a shot past the Kangaroo goalkeeper from around 12 yards out to hand Plattsburgh State a 2-0 advantage.
 
Canton's senior forward Edward Malinoski Jr. scored his 10th goal of the season on a penalty kick in the 67th minute to erase the shutout bid for the Cardinals, but Price netted his second goal of the year in the 87th minute to add insurance. Fukushima was able to boot the ball forward to Price out of a scrum at the top of the 18-yard box, and an unmarked Price deposited a sliding strike into the back of the net.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Gustav Norin (Östersund, Sweden/JGY Wargentinskolan) made six saves in his collegiate debut, with his lone goal against coming on a penalty kick. Canton's senior goalkeeper Mouhammed Thiam stopped five shots in the loss.
 
Prior to the start of the game, the Cardinals honored legendary head men's soccer coach Chris Waterbury, who retired following the 2017-18 academic year after serving in that role for 33 years at Plattsburgh State.