ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team opened up State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play on Saturday and fell 20-5 to Oneonta on the road. Sophomore
Dylan Ruland (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) scored all five goals for Plattsburgh State, with three coming in the first quarter, leading the Cardinal offensive effort.
Ruland's five goals set a new career-high for goals in a game, as he also tallied nine shots on goal, a groundball, and one caused turnover. Sophomore
Cole Orehosky (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppage) took the loss in net, making nine saves, while senior
Jab Duval Lapaix (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) led the Cardinals with three faceoff wins.
Anthony Munro led the way with five goals for the Red Dragons, while Thomas Hnis led Oneonta with five points on two goals and three assists. Stephen Barikyan was outstanding on faceoffs for the Red Dragons, going 20-25, also scooping up 11 ground balls and scoring a goal. Aidan Greene had seven groundballs for Oneonta, also tallying a goal and two caused turnovers.
The Red Dragons were dominant on shots throughout the game, outshooting the Cardinals 50-27 over the 60 minutes of action, with a 29-17 advantage in shots on goal. Oneonta saw a huge advantage in the face-off circle, winning 22 of 28 opportunities on the day, while outgaining the Cardinals 31-13 on groundballs. The hosts were also 16-17 on clears, while the Cards went 17-22. Each team had three extra man opportunities, and Oneonta was 2-3, while the Cardinals were 0-3 on the day.
Plattsburgh State falls to 4-4 (0-1 SUNYAC) with the loss and next hosts Cortland for another SUNYAC matchup on Saturday, Apr. 5 at noon. The Red Dragons move to 4-6 (1-0 SUNYAC) and next take on Canton on Friday, Apr. 4 at 6 p.m. on the road.
In the first quarters, Ruland led the Cardinals to the best start they could hope for as he scored at 13:49, 12:24, and 9:35 all unassisted, to put his team up 3-0 right out of the gate. Unfortunately, from there, Oneonta would not miss a beat, scoring three unanswered goals to tie the game up in the first quarter, going on a 20-2 run to finish the game.
Despite just a 13-9 (9-5 SOG) advantage in shots for the Red Dragons in the second quarter, the hosts outscored Plattsburgh 5-0, taking a commanding 8-3 lead into halftime and with all the momentum.
Ruland ended the 8-0 Oneonta run with a goal at 12:47 in the third period and, after a Munro score, scored again to put Plattsburgh down just 9-5. The Red Dragons then scored four more goals in the quarter, including a Danny Macchiarella goal with just one second left in the third to give his team an imposing 13-5 advantage.
In the fourth quarter, Oneonta's attack did not slow down as they had their best period of the day, outscoring Plattsburgh 7-0 and outshooting them 13-4. The Cardinals were able to close the gap on the faceoffs in the period, winning three out of eight, but could not muster a strong offensive attack or stop the red hot Red Dragons. Finn Morris put the final touches on the Oneonta win with 1:48 to go in the game, giving his team the 20-5 win.
