CASTLETON, Vt. – The Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team scored nine first-half goals and staved off a second-half comeback by Castleton University to defeat the Spartans, 10-7, in non-conference action at Dave Wolk Stadium Thursday afternoon.
 
Senior attackman Jake Carroll (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) led the Cardinal attack with three goals, while freshman attackman/midfielder Dilon Smith (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) recorded a career-high two points on a goal and an assist. Senior long-stick midfielder Christopher Weider (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West), junior midfielder Daniel Bonafede (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili), senior midfielder Kevin Murphy (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), junior attackman Jack Mullen (Long Beach, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial), sophomore attackman Connor Wolff (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) and senior midfielder R.J. Ehli (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) also scored for the Cardinals, while senior defensive midfielder Nick Della Ratta (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's), sophomore midfielder James Sherwood (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport-South Manor) and freshman attackman Zach Gill (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) each notched assists. Della Ratta paced the defense with five ground balls and four caused turnovers, while freshman face-off specialist Sean Fitzpatrick (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) went 3-for-4 at the X in his collegiate debut.
 
For Castleton, senior midfielder Jason Sedell led the way with four points on three goals and an assist, while junior midfielder Cameron Russell scored twice. Senior attackman Tom Pardew and freshman attackman Connor Rider also found the back of the cage, while senior midfielder Colin Clark and junior attackman Tyler Crowningshield each earned assists. Sophomore long-stick midfielder Luc Issa scooped up a game-high six ground balls and caused two turnovers, while freshman midfielder Finn Miller and freshman attackman Xavier McKenna went 5-for-8 and 4-for-6, respectively, on face-offs.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 2-4 overall with the win and hosts New England College in its home opener on Tuesday, March 26, at 4 p.m. Castleton drops to 2-4 overall with the loss and will visit UMass-Dartmouth in its Little East Conference debut on Saturday, March 23, at 12 p.m.
 
The Cardinals netted the first three goals of the game, as Bonafede, Weider and Smith all scored, with Smith's tally giving the visitors a 3-0 lead with 4:36 left in the first quarter. Russell put the Spartans on the board with 53 seconds left in the first stanza, trimming the gap to 3-1 heading into the second quarter.
 
Plattsburgh State went on to outscore Castleton, 6-0, in the second quarter. Carroll converted on a feed from Della Ratta 1:42 into the second quarter before Murphy scored on a Sherwood pass 40 seconds later. Carroll buried an unassisted goal at 10:25 of the second before Smith connected with Wolff for a goal midway through the period. Gill fed Carroll for a marker with 5:52 left in the second quarter, while Ehli scored unassisted with 1:32 remaining to stake the Cardinals to a 9-1 advantage heading into the halftime intermission.
 
Castleton started its comeback with 5:26 to go in the third quarter, as Sedell scored a man-up goal on a feed from Clark before scoring again less than three minutes later. Mullen tallied with 1:37 left in the third, while Pardew's unassisted goal drew the Spartans within 10-4 heading into the final regulation period.
 
Sedell set up Rider for a goal with 5:45 left in regulation before Sedell and Russell each scored late in the fourth to spell the final score of 10-7. Russell's goal, which came with just four seconds left, was assisted by Crowningshield.
 
Plattsburgh State finished with a 41-23 edge in shots and went 16-for-24 on clears. Castleton held a slight edge at the X, going 11-for-20, and went 15-for-19 on clear attempts. Both teams collected 28 ground balls. The Spartans were 1-for-4 on extra-man opportunities, while the Cardinals were scoreless in three chances with the extra-man advantage.
 
The Cardinals played a different goalie each quarter, with senior Jack Hayes (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake) making two saves against no goals allowed in the second quarter. Sophomore goalie Maxx Ingison and senior goalie Brandon Myron combined for 12 stops in the loss for the Spartans.