BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's lacrosse team fell to Buffalo State 18-3 in their State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener at Coyer Field on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals had three players register goals including a goal from senior midfielder Caitlin Nash (Patchogue, N.Y. / Patchogue-Medford).

Sophomore attacker Abby Guasconi (Ogdensburg, N.Y. / Ogdensburg Free Academy) and first-year attacker Ashley O'Hara (Chittenango, N.Y. / The Hill School) also recorded goals for Plattsburgh. Junior attacker/midfielder Alex LaDue (Saranac Lake, N.Y. / Saranac Lake) and junior attacker Cynthia Barnosky (Shirley, N.Y. / William Floyd) both registered an assist on the day. Junior defender Lillian Gilroy (Rome, N.Y. / Rome Free Academy) recorded three draw controls, three ground balls, and a caused turnover.

For the Bengals, Sage Running Rabbit led their offense with seven points with a team high four assists and three goals. Lauren Rinow and Vanessa Willick led the team with four goals while Rinow also added an assist for five points. Kira Grzechowiak had a hat trick on the day as well.

The Bengals doubled the Cardinals in shots 40-17 as well as holding a 25-18 advantage in ground balls. The Cardinals won eight draw controls while the Bengals doubled them up with 16 draw controls on the day. Plattsburgh was 0-2 on free-position shots and scored a goal a player down while Buffalo was 3-10 on free-positions and scored two player-up goals in seven chances and two player-down goals. On clears, the Cardinals went 12-22 while the Bengals were 16-20.

Plattsburgh State falls to 1-4 (0-1 SUNYAC) and is back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 19 when they travel to Utica for a 4 p.m. opening draw control. Buffalo State moves to 5-1 (1-0 SUNYAC) and is back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 19 when they travel to Piedmont University for a 3 p.m. start time.

The Cardinals' offense got off to a slow start, but it was Running Rabbit who got the scoring started for the Bengals, leading to a five-goal run. The Bengals outscored the Cardinals 4-0 in the first quarter and notched the opening goal of the second quarter, as the Bengals led 5-0 just 25 seconds into the second quarter.

O'Hara stopped the Bengals' run and finally got the Cardinals on the board at the 10:22 mark. After she attempted a crease roll and was denied, she retreated and drove to the net again for the score, making the score 5-1. However, the momentum was still on the Bengals' side, as they responded with three straight goals to end the second and took an 8-1 lead into halftime.

The Cardinals looked to spark a comeback as Nash scored the first goal of the third quarter off the assist from Barnosky just 30 seconds into the quarter, but Buffalo poured on nine straight goals led by Willick with four and took a 17-2 lead into the final quarter.

After Buffalo opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a little over 10 minutes remaining, the Cardinals responded a few minutes later as LaDue found Guasconi for the score while down a player and made the score 18-3. Neither team was able to tack on any more goals as the Cardinals fell 18-3.

Sophomore Anna Myers (Saugerties, N.Y. / Saugerties) made a career-high 13 saves in the loss for Plattsburgh while Brielle Lum made nine saves in the win for Buffalo.