PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's lacrosse team dropped their first home game of the season after a strong start from the Clarkson Golden Knights. Eight first-period goals propelled Clarkson to an 18-8 victory as the Cardinals fell in a non-conference matchup.

Sophomore attacker Cynthia Barnosky (Shirley, N.Y. / William Floyd) led the Cardinals in points with four coming from three goals and an assist. Senior defender Janey Adams (Wynantskill, N.Y. / Averill Park) was the only other Cardinal with a multi-point game as she came away with two goals. Maddy Garcia (New Paltz, N.Y. / New Paltz), Caitlin Nash (Patchogue, N.Y. / Patchogue-Medford), and Fiona Fitzgerald (Long Beach, N.Y. / Holy Trinity) all scored one goal for the Cardinals while Rachel LaMar (Ballston Lake, N.Y. / Shenendehowa) picked up an assist. Sophomore defender Lillian Gilroy (Rome, N.Y. / Rome Free Academy) led the Cardinals with seven draw controls and senior defender Sam Lombardi (East Atlantic Beach, N.Y. / Kellenberg Memorial) led the Cardinals with three ground balls.

For the Golden Knights, Madelynn Barnum led the way with seven points off of five goals and two assists. Makenna Cassin also had a multi-goal game with four goals.

The Golden Knights held the upper hand in shots 36-18 and ground balls 27-12 while the Cardinals won the draw control battle 16-13. On clears, the Cardinals were 14-18 while the Golden Knights were 23-24. Both teams made one free position shot as the Cardinals were 1-5 and the Golden Knights 1-2. The Golden Knights went 3-5 on extra man-up opportunities while the Cardinals were only 1-4. 

Plattsburgh falls to 1-2 overall with the loss and next hosts Norwich University on Wednesday, March 13 at 4 pm. Clarkson moves to 2-0 and next hosts Oneonta on Saturday, March 9 at 1 pm.

The Golden Knights scored the first two goals before Barnosky responded with a goal off the pass from LaMar at the 9:31 mark and made the score 2-1 Golden Knights. It was back-to-back goals for the Golden Knights again that was broken up by a goal from Garcia assisted by Barnosky at the 6:37 mark. The Golden Knights ended the first on a four-goal run and made the score 8-2 after one.

Cassin opened the second with her third goal of the game as Adams responded a few minutes later and made the score 9-3 Golden Knights with less than 12 minutes in the quarter. The Golden Knights scored the last three goals of the quarter at the 10:57, 9:23, and 8:38 marks as the rest of the quarter went scoreless and the Golden Knights went into halftime up 12-3.

Cassin scored the first goal of the third quarter nearly two minutes into the quarter as Nash responded a minute later and made the score 13-4 Golden Knights. The Golden Knights went on a three-goal run followed by a three-goal run for the Cardinals with goals coming from Fitzgerald, Barnosky, and Adams that made the score 16-7 at the end of the third.

Barnosky scored the first and only Cardinal goal of the fourth quarter at the 13:33 mark. Barnum scored the final two goals of the game at the 10:52 mark and 7:02 mark as the rest of the game saw no more goals scored and the Cardinals fell 18-8.

First-year goalie Jess Loch (Tappan, N.Y. / Tappan Zee) made five saves in 19:03 minutes of action while first-year goalie Hannah Lowder (Rome, N.Y. / Rome Free Academy) made six saves in 40:57 minutes of action for Plattsburgh. Sophomore goalie Jennaca McGill made two saves in her 30 minutes of action and picked up the win for Clarkson.