PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's soccer team took a lead early in the second half against Buffalo State, but the Bengals scored three unanswered goals to win the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) match in Plattsburgh. The Cardinals celebrated six seniors in the loss as Kevin Abbondanza (Rye, N.Y./Rye), Jack Healy (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River), Frankie Palumbo (Walkill, N.Y./Walkill), Matthew Pitarresi (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell), Dylan Shalvey (Cavan, Ireland/Peekskill (N.Y.)), and Marcial Vasquez (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Fox Lane).

Connor Howe (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) scored his first goal of his career for Plattsburgh in the 47^th minute, as team points leader John Hayes (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) upped his tally to 13 points with the assist. Teddy Healy (Amityville, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) took just his second loss of the season on Saturday in net, moving to 6-2-4 making two saves. For Buffalo State, Diego Rivera scored the final two goals, both assisted by Manu Prieto who scored the first Bengal goal.

The Cardinals fall to 7-2-4 (2-2-3 SUNYAC) and now have a tough road matchup with currently ranked Oneonta next on their docket for Wednesday, Oct. 18. Buffalo State improves to 9-3-2 (4-3 SUNYAC) and have a date with Oswego State on Wednesday, Oct. 18 for their next match. Taking a look at the league standings, the Cardinals now find themselves in seventh place, a point behind Geneseo for the final playoff spot, with the two teams set to meet on Saturday, Oct. 21 on the final day of the conference regular season.

The first half set the tone for a physical game between the Cardinals and Bengals, as shots were hard to come by over the first 45 minutes. Each team only attempted four shots, with Plattsburgh attempting three in the first three minutes, as an early shot by Howe was saved by the Buffalo State keeper.

The second half saw the same aggressive attack early from Plattsburgh, led by Howe who scored on the first shot of the second half. Just two minutes in the 47^th minute, Hayes found the first-year trickling past the back defensive line with a perfectly timed pass through the defense where Howe scored around the keeper for the lead.

The Cardinal lead held for several minutes and was nearly extended after an excellently executed corner that saw Brian Coughlan (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) rip a shot from the top of the box that was saved at the top of the goal.

In the 56^th minute, the Bengals finally got their first good look of the period in transition, as Manu Prieto worked around two defenders for the equalizing score on just the first shot of the period. The Bengals attempted another shot in the 60^th minute but didn't get another until the 70^th minute when Diego Rivera was found by Prieto for the Buffalo State lead. The game-sealing goal came just two minutes later, as Rivera was found by Prieto again to give their team a 3-1 lead.

Despite going down, Plattsburgh's offense remained aggressive and generated chance after chance, but could not work a shot past the keeper, holding the final score at 3-1.