PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team outscored four-time defending conference champion SUNY Cortland, 5-3, in the fourth quarter but wound up falling to the Red Dragons by a 20-9 final in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at the Field House Complex in what was the Cardinals' season finale.
 
Prior to the start of the game, the Cardinals honored their nine seniors as a part of Senior Day: attackmen Michael Gresser (Westtown, N.Y./Minisink Valley) and Robby Martin (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties), midfielders Owen Lorenzetti (Seneca Falls, N.Y./Mynderse Academy), Séan Ronan (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue), Michael Swift (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) and Gustav Rugg (Haverstraw, N.Y./North Rockland) and defensemen James Schulze (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y./Croton-Harmon), Julian Pigliavento (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) and Jack Brien (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester).
 
The Red Dragons finished with a 57-37 edge in shots and a 50-31 cushion in ground balls while going 20-for-33 on face-offs, 3-for-4 on extra-man opportunities and 23-for-30 on clears. The Cardinals went 23-for-32 on clears and were 2-for-12 on extra-man chances.
 
Plattsburgh State finishes its season at 2-13 overall (0-7 SUNYAC), while Cortland rises to 12-4 overall (6-1 SUNYAC) with the win. The Red Dragons hold the No. 2 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament and host third-seeded Oswego State in the semifinal round on Wednesday, May 3.
 
Cortland scored the first 10 goals of the game before junior attackman John Eiseman (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East) tallied man-down with 9:56 left in the second quarter to put the Cardinals on the board. The Red Dragons netted two more goals before sophomore attackman Mike Walsh (Westchester, N.Y./Lakeland) connected with Rugg midway through the second quarter to cut the gap to 12-2. While Cortland netted three unanswered goals, Walsh scored on a pass from Lorenzetti with 36 seconds left to trim the deficit to 15-3 at the halftime intermission.
 
The Red Dragons scored the first two goals of the third quarter before first-year midfielder Tim Keenan (Poughquag, N.Y./Arlington) buried a marker on an Eiseman feed with 6:19 left in the third. That Keenan strike kickstarted a four-goal surge for the Cardinals that extended into the fourth quarter, as Swift scored unassisted, Lorenzetti netted a goal on a pass from junior midfielder Cam Morin (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) and Eiseman converted on a pass from Walsh within a span of 2:22 to whittle the deficit to 17-7. The two teams traded goals down the stretch, with Eiseman tallying with 8:02 left and Lorenzetti scoring man-up on a Rugg assist with 6:36 to go.
 
Eiseman led the Cardinals with four points on three goals and one assist, while Lorenzetti (two goals, one assist) and Walsh (one goal, two assist) each notched three points. Six different Cardinals scooped up three ground balls, while sophomore defenseman Kyle Ruland (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) caused two turnovers.
 
Senior attackman Dante Yacavone keyed the Red Dragon offense with six goals, while senior attackman Jason Chiodo notched five points on two goals and three assists. Sophomore defenseman Logan Schanars paced the Cortland defense with three ground balls and two caused turnovers, while sophomore face-off specialist Owen Neubauer led the Red Dragons at the dot by going 9-for-14 on face-offs in addition to collecting seven ground balls and scoring a goal.
 
Junior goalie Dan Clements (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) made 12 saves in the first three quarters before handing the reins off to first-year goalie Jack Mulcahy (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington), who turned aside four shots in the fourth quarter. Senior goalie Matt Stento earned the win in net for Cortland, making six saves in the first half.