MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—The SUNY Potsdam men's lacrosse team jumped out to a big first half lead and held off Medaille (1-2) in a penalty-filled second half for a 22-20 victory in it's season-opener on Tuesday. Sophomore midfielder
Robbie Ashlaw (North Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) led the Bear offense with a two-goal, seven-assist effort. Senior attackman
Kevin Green (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) had four goals and two assists and junior attackman Pete Pike (Watertown, N.Y./General Brown) contributed five goals and three assists for Potsdam.
Bears Head Coach
Rick Berkman was pleased with the win, but admitted there are still areas needing improvement.
“Overall, I was happy with the effort,” said Berkman. “We got off to a great start, but the game got a bit out of control in the second half. There were over 20 penalties in the game and we gave up 12 man-up goals. We still have work left to do.”
The Bears led 6-1 after one quarter and 15-6 at the half, but the Mustangs took advantage of Potsdam penalties and charged back with a 14-7 second half.
In goal, sophomore Stephan Sloma (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) and junior
Mike Quinlan (Buffalo, N.Y./Williamsville South) split time for the Bears, making seven and six saves, respectively. Brian Roff made 14 saves for Medaille.
Jim Luthart paced the Mustangs offensively with four goals and three assists and teammate Joe Glieco scored six goals.
Despite the rough second half, Berkman had a lot of praise for his players.
“
Robbie Ashlaw was our leader on the field today,” Berkman said. “He had a big game for us and so did
Kevin Green. I was also very pleased with the performance of newcomer Pete Pike. He stood out for us today.”
Potsdam (1-0) faces Alfred at noon on Friday, March 11, in its Myrtle Beach finale.
Score by quarters:
1-2-3-4—T
Potsdam 6-9-4-3—22
Medaille 1-5-7-7—20
Complete Potsdam Scoring:
g-a-p
#8
Robbie Ashlaw 2-7-9
#1 Pete Pike 5-3-8
#9
Kevin Green 4-2-6
#10
Sean McAuliffe 4-2-6
#5
Kyle Nicholas 2-3-5
#32
Ryan Paparella 2-1-3
#11
Derek Frost 2-1-2
#29
Zeppy O'Geen 1-0-1
