POTSDAM, N.Y. – Senior goalie Christian Bassi (Windham, N.H./Kimball Union Academy) turned aside a career-high 23 saves, but the Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team fell to non-conference Clarkson University, 19-5, on Wednesday afternoon at Hantz Field.
 
Bassi's save total tied Brian Csorny (vs. University of New England on March 15, 2007) for the fourth-most saves in a single game in program history.
 
The Golden Knights finished with a 67-21 edge in shots and a 51-22 advantage in ground balls in addition to going 23-for-27 at the face-off dot. Plattsburgh State was 17-for-23 on clears, while Clarkson was 11-for-13. On extra-man opportunities, the Golden Knights were 2-for-6, while the Cardinals were 0-for-2.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 2-5 overall with the loss and opens up State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play at SUNY Cortland on Saturday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m. Clarkson rises to 8-0 overall with the win and kicks off Liberty League play against Ithaca College on Saturday, March 26, at 12 p.m.
 
Clarkson's senior midfielder Bryan Penney scored 32 seconds into the game before senior midfielder Stephen Kane (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) countered with a goal 4:13 later to tie the game at 1-all. The Golden Knights proceeded to net eight unanswered goals before first-year attackman Donald Woods (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point) cashed in on a feed from senior midfielder Zach Gill (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) to stop the run midway through the second quarter. Clarkson scored three more goals before halftime and took a 12-2 lead into the intermission.
 
The Golden Knights rattled off the first three goals of the third quarter before Kane tallied on an assist from first-year midfielder Ely Bruhns (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), which marked Bruhns' first point as a Cardinal. In the fourth quarter, Kane and senior midfielder Andrew Braverman (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) bookended a pair of Clarkson goals to spell the final score of 19-5.
 
Kane scored three goals to key the Cardinal attack, while senior defenseman Justin Rocovich (Bohemia, N.Y./Connetquot) scooped up five ground balls and caused two turnovers.
 
For Clarkson, Penney led the way with four points on three goals and an assist, while junior attackman Sebastian Geiger scored three times. Junior midfielder Matthew Hansen went 16-for-19 on face-offs, while junior midfielder Logan Wilkinson went 7-for-8. Three Golden Knight goalies combined for nine saves.