PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – A fourth-quarter surge by the Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team fell just short of a complete comeback, as the Cardinals dropped a 17-14 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) decision to SUNY Potsdam on Senior Day Friday afternoon at the Field House Complex. It marked the final game of the 2021 campaign for the Cardinals and first-year head coach Andrew Hauk.
 
Prior to the start of the game, Plattsburgh State honored its four graduating seniors who do not intend on utilizing an extra year of eligibility: short-stick defensive midfielder Justin Wise (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna), defenseman Matt McAlpine (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place), defenseman Walter Saraceni (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) and goalie Kyle Dodge (East Northport, N.Y./Northport).
 
Down 16-9 entering the fourth quarter, the Cardinals rallied with goals from first-year attackman Brian Pohoreckyj (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber), senior midfielder Stephen Kane (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) and junior attackman Dilon Smith (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) to cut the gap to four. Smith earned an assist on Kane's marker. Potsdam's junior midfielder Alec Miller broke up the run midway through the period before senior attackman Connor Wolff (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) buried a Pohoreckyj feed and Smith scored unassisted to make it a three-goal game with 6:57 to go. The Bears forced a turnover after the Cardinals won the ensuing face-off, and they possessed the ball for the majority of the time remaining to pull out the win.
 
Plattsburgh State concludes its season at 2-6 overall (2-4 SUNYAC). Potsdam rises to 7-3 overall (5-1 SUNYAC) with the win and visits West Division No. 1 seed SUNY Cortland in the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Tournament on Tuesday, May 4.
 
The Cardinals got on the board first when Smith converted on a feed from junior midfielder Andrew Braverman (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) with 4:32 gone in the first quarter, and sophomore midfielder Amos Grimm (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) doubled the lead with an unassisted goal just 50 seconds later. Potsdam whittled the deficit in half when junior midfielder Henry Reber scored on a feed from Miller, but Braverman connected with Pohoreckyj less than a minute later to extend the Cardinal lead to 3-1.
 
Potsdam proceeded to score six straight goals spanning the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second stanza. Junior midfielder Alex Burley scored twice during that spurt, and a man-up goal by sophomore attackman Nick Zalucky staked the Bears to a 7-3 advantage with 6:56 remaining in the second quarter. Smith scored with 5:25 left in the stanza, and a Potsdam hit after the play resulted in a two-minute non-releasable penalty for the Bears, which Plattsburgh State took full advantage of, with Kane and Grimm each scoring man-up on a pass from Pohoreckyj. Potsdam's first-year attackman Cobie Cree (senior midfielder Josh Huiatt assist) and Burley (sophomore midfielder Peyton Walsh assist) each scored in the final two minutes of the half to hand the Bears a 9-6 lead heading into the intermission.
 
The Bears' offense came alive in the third quarter, scoring seven goals. Junior attackman Cam Talcott (Walsh assist), Cree (Huiatt assist) and Walsh (Huiatt assist) all scored before Grimm broke up the run with an unassisted goal. Huiatt, Walsh (Huiatt assist) and Talcott all scored to extend the Potsdam edge to 15-7, but Smith and Braverman countered with a pair of unassisted goals. Talcott converted on a feed from Reber to close out the quarter.
 
Plattsburgh State outshot Potsdam, 42-40, and outgained the Bears, 29-26, on ground balls. The Cardinals also were dominant at the face-off dot, going 20-for-33. On extra-man opportunities, Plattsburgh State was 2-for-5, while Potsdam was 1-for-4. After one failed clear in the first half, the Bears were perfect the rest of the game, going 18-for-19. The Cardinals were 13-for-16 on clears.
 
Smith paced the Cardinal offense with six points on five goals and an assist, while Pohoreckyj matched a career high with five points on two goals and three assists. Grimm scored three times, while Braverman posted a career-high three points on a goal and two assists. Kane finished with two goals, while Wolff tallied once. Sophomore long-stick midfielder Julian Pigliavento (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) tied a career high in caused turnovers with five, taking over the SUNYAC lead in the statistical category. Junior face-off specialist Daniel Umbro (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) went 15-for-24 at the 'X' and scooped up a career-high seven ground balls.
 
For Potsdam, Huiatt (two goals, four assists) and Walsh (three goals, three assists) each tallied six points, while Talcott had five points on four goals and one assist. Junior long-stick midfielder Bryley Frederick collected five ground balls and caused two turnovers to lead the Bears defensively.
 
Junior goalie Christian Bassi (Windham, N.H./Kimball Union Academy) and sophomore goalie Killian Shea-Smith (St. Albans, Vt./Tilton School [N.H.]) split time in goal for the Cardinals, making six and two saves, respectively. Sophomore goalie Ben Fuchs stopped 10 shots in the win for the Bears.