NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Head coach Zach Nedbalski earned his first win in his inaugural game at the helm of the Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse program, as the Cardinals played outstanding defensively, taking down Mount Saint Mary College 9-4 in Newburgh, New York.
 
Junior goalie Jack Mulcahy (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) made a career-high 13 saves, allowing just four goals in over 56 minutes of action. Senior attacker Mike Walsh (Westchester, N.Y./Lakeland) led the offensive attack for the Cards, putting up two goals and three assists for a five-point outing. Junior midfielder Tim Keenan (Poughquag, N.Y./Arlington) added three goals and sophomore attacker Dylan Ruland (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue Medford) added two goals in his first game with Plattsburgh.
 
The Cardinals owned the upper hand in shots (43-29) and ground balls (33-24), and they went 18-for-20 on clears and 3-for-6 on extra-man opportunities. Plattsburgh also won nine of the 16 faceoffs and held the Knights scoreless in three extra-man chances.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 1-0 overall with the win and next visits Norwich on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. Mount Saint Mary College falls to 0-1 with the loss and next hosts Rosemont College on Saturday, March 1.
 
After the Knights scored the opening goal 1:34 into the game's action, Logan Vilardi (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) tallied the Cards first goal of the season, notching the score on a man-up chance with an assist from Walsh at the 12:56 mark of the first quarter. Walsh gave the team the lead with an unassisted man-up goal at 8:10 in the period, but that was shortly followed by Larry Frank's second unassisted goal to tie the game at two.

The tied score held into the second quarter, but Ruland gave Plattsburgh the lead for good, scoring at 13:46 in the period with an unassisted score, going top-shelf for the lead. He followed with another goal at 10:05 in the second, as Donald Woods (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point) notched the assist. Keenan scored a man-up goal with just over six minutes to go in the half, giving the Cards a 5-2 lead at the break.

In the third period, Walsh and Keenan scored unassisted goals within the first three minutes of the second half, and Matt Palmer (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) scored his first career goal at 10:22 as the Cards opened up a six-goal lead over the Knights.

Keenan tallied the final goal of the day for Plattsburgh, as first-year attacker Brayden Shattuck (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) added the assist for his first collegiate point.

Frank added another goal for Mount Saint Mary College and Henry Micyk also scored for the Knights late in the fourth, but the Cards defense stood strong down the stretch to earn the win. 

Kenny Leen took the loss for MSMC in goal, making 17 saves over 60 minutes.

First-year goalie Gavin McQueeney (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham Wading River) made his collegiate debut in net, playing almost a minute-and-a-half in net.