NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Despite holding the upper hand in shots (50-37) and ground balls (32-31), the Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team dropped an 18-9 decision to SUNY New Paltz in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at the South Turf Field.
 
In addition, both teams went 15-for-30 at the 'X.' New Paltz was 3-for-4 on extra-man opportunities, while Plattsburgh State's man-up offense went 1-for-4. On clears, the Cardinals were 15-for-17, while the Hawks were 21-for-23.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 2-6 overall (0-1 SUNYAC) with the loss and next visits Oswego State on Saturday, April 1, at 1 p.m. New Paltz rises to 4-3 overall (1-0 SUNYAC) with the win and next hosts St. Joseph's (L.I.) College on Wednesday, March 29, at 3 p.m.
 
New Paltz netted the first two goals of the game, with sophomore midfielder Anthony Senecal and senior defenseman Michael Devoe each scoring in the opening two minutes of the contest. Junior attackman John Eiseman (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East) tallied with 9:37 left in the opening stanza, while senior midfielder/attackman Deacon Hill extended the Hawk advantage to 3-1 with a marker less than two minutes later. The two teams then traded goals, with senior midfielder Owen Lorenzetti (Seneca Falls, N.Y./Mynderse Academy) and Eiseman bookending the next three markers. Junior attackman John Reese tallied two unanswered goals before sophomore attackman Ryan Weaver (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central) buried a score with 1:41 remaining in the first quarter to cut the Hawk lead to 6-4.
 
The Hawks scored three unanswered goals from senior attackman Ryan Scully, Reese and senior attackman Thomas Armetta, while senior defenseman Julian Pigliavento (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) and sophomore midfielder Logan Vilardi (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) tallied on passes from Eiseman and senior attackman Robby Martin (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties), respectively, to whittle the deficit to three goals at 9-6. Vilardi's strike came with the extra-man advantage. New Paltz's Armetta scored 33 seconds before halftime to give the home team a 10-6 edge at the intermission.
 
New Paltz pulled away in the third quarter, scoring five of the period's six goals. Sophomore attackman Mike Walsh's (Westchester, N.Y./Lakeland) tally midway through the quarter helped break up the Hawk run. After Eiseman scored 3:13 into the fourth quarter to cut the gap to 14-8, the Hawks added insurance with a four-goal run. First-year attackman George Rhatigan (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) scored the game's final goal with 1:26 left.
 
Eiseman led the Cardinal attack with four points on three goals and an assist, while sophomore defenseman Kyle Ruland (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) scooped up three ground balls and caused two turnovers to pace the defense. Sophomore midfielder Jimbo Farrelly (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) was dominant at the face-off dot, going 11-for-19 with eight ground balls.
 
For New Paltz, Reese registered eight points on seven goals and an assist, while Armetta notched five points on three goals and two assists. Junior midfielder Matt Brignati took every face-off for the Hawks, going 15-for-30 with 13 ground balls.
 
Junior goalie Dan Clements (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) made six saves in the first 45 minutes of play before first-year goalie Jack Mulcahy (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) stopped two shots in the fourth quarter. New Paltz's junior goalie Ryan Steinhart turned aside 24 shots in the victory.