PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's lacrosse team dropped their home opener to Plymouth State, falling 19-4 in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore attacker Dylan Ruland (Medford, N.Y. / Patchogue-Medford) led the way for Plattsburgh with one goal and one assist as well as tacking on six ground balls and three caused turnovers.

The rest of the Cardinal offense came from Jamie Gipe (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C. W. Baker), Fynn Whitlock (Middlebury, Vt. / Middlebury Union), and Kyle Ruland (Medford, N.Y. / Patchogue-Medford) as each tallied a goal in the overall effort. Whitlock and K. Ruland also had solid performances defensively for the Cardinals as Whitlock added four ground balls and two caused turnovers and K. Ruland had three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Senior face-off specialist Jimbo Farrelly (West Nyack, N.Y. / Clarkstown South) was 9-18 on faceoffs and led the team in ground balls with eight while Gipe, Kevin Murray (Bellmore, N.Y. / Kellenberg Memorial), and Connor Vanella (Holtsville, N.Y. / Sachem East) all scooped up three ground balls.

For the Panthers, Crosby Fay led the offense with six points off a game-high five goals and one assist, followed by Brady Hunt who had a game-high five assists for five points. Aiden Renner, Shea Clark, and Ryan Collins all recorded two goals while Aiden O'Loughlin had two assists.

While Plymouth won the shot battle 47-30, the Cardinals were strong on the ground with a 40-32 advantage in ground balls. Plymouth had a slight edge in faceoffs, winning 14 to Plattsburgh's 12 while both teams were 1-4 on extra-man opportunities. On clears, the Cardinals were 17-24 while the Panthers were 19-25.

Plattsburgh State falls to 2-2 and is back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 12 when they host Clarkson for a 4 p.m. opening faceoff. Plymouth State rises to 3-1 and is back in action next Saturday, Mar. 15 when they travel to Wentworth for a 1 p.m. opening faceoff.

The first half of the opening quarter was a defensive battle as neither team could find the back of the net until Fay opened the scoring at the 6:10 mark as Hunt tallied the assist. Fay's goal started a four-goal run for the Panthers as they held the Cardinals scoreless and took a 4-0 lead into the second quarter.

The Cardinals finally got on the board in the second quarter when D. Ruland scooped up a loose ball in front of the net, ripping the shot past the goalie to give the Cardinals their first goal of the game. A few minutes later Gipe tacked on another goal for Plattsburgh as he took his defender to the net, spinning off him and getting the shot off as he was falling, making the score 5-2 Panthers. After a three-goal run from Plymouth extended the Panthers' lead to 8-2, K. Ruland broke up the run, but the Panthers offense didn't slow down. A late goal from Collins to end the second quarter gave the Panthers a 9-3 lead at halftime.

Out of the break, the Panthers picked up where they left off outscoring the Cardinals 10-1 in the second half as Whitlock broke up an eight-goal run at the 8:20 mark in the fourth quarter. After a turnover at midfield, it was a long pole goal as D. Ruland scooped up the ground ball and passed to Whitlock at the doorstep for the man-up goal that made the score 17-4 as Plattsburgh ultimately fell 19-4.

Sophomore goalie Cole Orehosky (Hauppauge, N.Y. / Hauppauge) made nine saves in the loss for Plattsburgh in over 49 minutes of action while Ethan Schena made nine saves in the win for Plymouth. In over 50 minutes of action.