PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's lacrosse team fell to Clarkson University, 18-5, in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon at the Field House Complex.
 
Junior midfielder Caroline Noia (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) led the Cardinals with four points on two goals and two assists, while senior goalie Alexa Cassidy (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) made six saves against six goals allowed in 36:27 of action.
 
Clarkson finished with a 38-17 edge in shots and a 24-13 margin in ground balls, but Plattsburgh State held a slight 13-11 advantage in draw controls. On clears, the Golden Knights went 15-for-19, while the Cardinals went 10-for-17.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 1-3 overall with the loss and next visits No. 24 SUNY Cortland in its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener on Saturday, March 26, at 12:30 p.m. Clarkson rises to 6-0 overall with the win and next host William Smith College on Friday, March 25, at 4 p.m.
 
Clarkson hopped out to a 2-0 lead, with sophomore midfielder Madelynn Barnum scoring unassisted and sophomore attacker Hailey Millington finding the back of the net on a free-position shot. Sophomore attacker/midfielder Fiona Fitzgerald (Long Beach, N.Y./Holy Trinity) got the Cardinals on the board with a woman-up marker feed from Noia before the Golden Knights scored two more goals to force a Plattsburgh State timeout. While Noia tallied unassisted with 3:07 left in the first quarter, Clarkson wound up scoring 14 unanswered goals across the first, second, third and fourth quarters to build an 18-2 advantage.
 
The fourth quarter wound up being all Plattsburgh State, as first-year defender/midfielder Rachel LaMar (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Shenendehowa) scored her first collegiate goal with 11:34 left in regulation before Noia tallied a woman-up goal unassisted in a scramble just outside the crease to cut the gap to 18-4. Noia connected with first-year attacker Maddy Garcia (New Paltz, N.Y./New Paltz) with 31 seconds left to close out scoring in the contest.
 
Barnum and junior attacker Julia Lavarnway each led Clarkson with six points, with Barnum scoring five goals and adding an assist and Lavarnway netting four goals and chipping in two assists. Senior attacker Sydney Roderick registered five points on two goals and three assists, while senior goalie Sydney Christiansen turned aside five shots in the victory for the Golden Knights.