CANTON, N.Y. – Head coach Darry Thornton earned his first win in his inaugural game at the helm of the Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse program, as the Cardinals cruised to a 14-2 win over SUNY Canton on Wednesday afternoon at the SUNY Canton Turf in the 2023 season opener for both teams.
 
Junior goalie Dan Clements (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) shined in goal for Plattsburgh State, making 10 saves in 52:57 of work while allowing just one goal. Canton had three goalies combine for 22 saves in the loss.
 
The Cardinals owned the upper hand in shots (58-24) and ground balls (43-35), and they went 28-for-33 on clears and 6-for-13 on extra-man opportunities. The Kangaroos were 10-for-17 at the face-off dot but were scoreless on seven chances with the extra man. Plattsburgh State kept Canton off the board until 4:12 into the fourth quarter.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 1-0 overall with the win and next visits Russell Sage College on Friday, March 3, at 3 p.m. Canton falls to 0-1 overall with the loss and next visits Utica University on Saturday, March 4, at 12 p.m.
 
Senior midfielder Owen Lorenzetti (Seneca Falls, N.Y./Mynderse Academy) opened scoring 1:13 into the game, while senior attackman Robby Martin (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) cashed in on a pass from sophomore attackman Mike Walsh (Westchester, N.Y./Lakeland) less than two minutes later. It marked the first point for Walsh as a Cardinal. Junior attackman John Eiseman (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East) buried a feed from Martin midway through the opening stanza, and Plattsburgh State carried a 3-0 lead into the quarter break.
 
Senior midfielder Gustav Rugg (Haverstraw, N.Y./North Rockland) scored man-up midway through the second quarter before sophomore midfielder Ely Bruhns (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) netted his first collegiate goal 43 seconds later to put Plattsburgh State up, 5-0. Martin then scored a pair of man-up goals, with Eiseman and Walsh each earning an assist. Eiseman's unassisted goal 1:06 before halftime gave the Cardinals an 8-0 advantage heading into the intermission.
 
Eiseman scored man-up 1:07 into the third quarter on a pass from Rugg, while first-year midfielder Tim Keenan (Poughquag, N.Y./Arlington) buried his first collegiate goal 53 seconds later on a Walsh feed. Walsh connected with Martin for a goal 54 seconds after Keenan's marker, while Walsh scored his first goal as a Cardinal man-up with 7:15 to go in the third, relying on an assist from Lorenzetti. Martin converted on a pass from sophomore defenseman Kyle Ruland (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) to score man-up before sophomore attackman Ryan Weaver (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie) deposited a pass from junior midfielder Anthony Faber (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) into the back of the cage with 2:30 to go in the third to hand the Cardinals a 14-0 cushion heading into the final regulation frame. Faber's assist marked his first collegiate point.
 
Canton accounted for the only scoring in the fourth quarter, with sophomore attackman Austin Mesler tallying unassisted 4:12 into the period before sophomore attackman Alex Jacobs cashed in on a feed from senior attackman Kyle Fingar with 3:10 left.
 
Martin keyed the Cardinal attack with seven points on five goals and two assists, while Walsh registered five points on a goal and four assists and Eiseman recorded four points on three goals and an assist. Senior defenseman Julian Pigliavento (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) scooped up a team-high five ground balls, while senior defenseman Jack Brien (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) caused three turnovers. At the 'X,' sophomore midfielder Jab Duval Lapaix (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) went 6-for-12.
 
For Canton, senior midfielder Noel Abreu won 10-of-17 face-offs and collected seven ground balls. First-year defenseman Holden Hewlett finished with two caused turnovers.