PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – After climbing out of a 10-7 hole, the second-seeded Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team was done in by a late goal by SUNY Geneseo in an 11-10 loss to the third-seeded Knights in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament semifinals Wednesday afternoon at the Field House Complex.
 
Plattsburgh State forced Geneseo into a shot clock violation with 42 seconds left in regulation and cleared the ball down the field before calling a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Cardinals were whistled for an infraction, giving the ball to Geneseo. The Knights cleared the ball before tic-tac-toe passing led to a goal by sophomore attackman Tim Fallo with seven seconds left on a feed from freshman attackman Kevin Cook. Geneseo won the ensuing face-off and ran the clock to zero to seal the win.
 
It marked the final game for seniors Jake Carroll (East Northport, N.Y./Northport), Kevin Murphy (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), Christopher Weider (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West), R.J. Ehli (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West), Chris Rupp (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), Nick Della Ratta (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's), Michael Van Bommel (Calverton, N.Y./Riverhead), David Force (Albany, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy), Jack Sullivan (East Northport, N.Y./Northport), Kevin Sanford (Lynnfield, Mass./St. John's Prep) and Jack Hayes (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake). The Class of 2019 helped lead the Cardinals to four SUNYAC Tournament appearances, including the program's first-ever conference title in 2017.
 
Plattsburgh State finishes its season at 7-9 overall, while Geneseo rises to 8-9 overall. The Knights will take on top-seeded SUNY Cortland in the SUNYAC championship game on Saturday, May 4, at 1 p.m. The Red Dragons edged fourth-seeded Oswego State, 13-10, in the other semifinal game.
 
The first quarter largely belonged to Geneseo, as the Knights took a 5-2 lead through the first 15 minutes of play. Freshman midfielder Tommy DeVito scored unassisted off the opening face-off for the Knights, while junior midfielder Kevin Litchauer (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) and junior attackman Jack Mullen (Long Beach, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) scored back-to-back goals for the Cardinals to give the home team a 2-1 lead.
 
Geneseo countered with four unanswered goals. Sophomore midfielder James Pratt scored on a pass from senior midfielder Jack Centore with 9:12 left in the first quarter before Centore connected with freshman midfielder Jake Steffen less than two minutes later to give the Knights the lead. Sophomore attackman Connor Griffin buried a feed from Cook before Pratt scored unassisted to stake Geneseo to a 5-2 advantage.
 
Plattsburgh State countered with four unanswered goals in the second quarter. Murphy found sophomore attackman Stephen Kane (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) for a goal at 11:56 of the second quarter, while sophomore midfielder James Sherwood (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport-South Manor) tallied unassisted midway through the stanza. Sophomore attackman Connor Wolff (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) buried the game-tying goal at 7:50 of the second on a Sherwood assist before freshman attackman Zach Gill (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) handed the Cardinals the lead on a Carroll dish with 4:18 to go before halftime. Fallo knotted the game at 6-all on a pass from sophomore midfielder Cameron Chiodo to spell what ended up being the halftime score.
 
Fallo buried a Pratt feed at 8:45 of the third quarter before Mullen scored man-up at 5:28 of the stanza. Steffen notched a man-up goal with 2:09 to go in the third on a pass from Pratt to give the Knights an 8-7 lead heading into the final regulation period.
 
Griffin scored a pair of man-up goals just 25 seconds apart midway through the fourth quarter to break open a 10-7 cushion for the visitors. Griffin's first goal was assisted by Steffen. Wolff started a three-goal surge for Plattsburgh State at 6:00 of the fourth quarter before Van Bommel scored his first goal since 2016 at 4:26 of the fourth. After the Cardinals cycled the ball around on a man-up chance, Wolff used a scoop shot on a Litchauer feed to score with 3:03 left in regulation, tying the game at 10-10.
 
Plattsburgh State outshot Geneseo, 38-31, while Geneseo won the ground ball battle, 37-31. The Knights were 17-for-18 on clears, while the Cardinals were 16-for-23. Geneseo was dominant at the X, going 16-for-25 on face-offs, while both teams were able to capitalize on extra-man opportunities. The Knights went 3-for-4 with the extra man, while the Cardinals were 2-for-3.
 
Wolff paced the Cardinal attack with three goals, while Mullen scored twice. Litchauer and Sherwood both tallied two points on a goal and an assist, while Van Bommel, Gill and Kane all scored once. Carroll and Murphy each dished out one assist. Van Bommel finished with three caused turnovers and one ground ball, while junior long-stick midfielder Kyle Smith (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) scooped up a game-high-tying five ground balls.
 
For Geneseo, Pratt earned four points on two goals and two assists, while Fallo and Griffin each recorded a hat trick. Steffen registered three points on two goals and an assist, while Cook and Centore each handed out two assists. DeVito scored once, while Chiodo had one assist. Defensively, freshman long-stick midfielder Lucas Kollmer and senior defenseman Jack Crowley both caused two turnovers. Freshman midfielder Ryan Lee went 7-for-10 at the X with five ground balls, while Pratt and freshman long-stick midfielder Ryan McMullen also scooped up five ground balls. DeVito went 9-for-15 on face-offs.
 
Sophomore goalie Joe Falco (Middletown, N.Y./Valley Central) made 11 saves in the loss for the Cardinals, while junior goalie Tyler Wetzel turned aside nine shots in the win for the Knights.