POTSDAM, N.Y.—Freshman attackman Eric Soderquist (Watertown, N.Y./Watertown) had a game and career-high six points (3g, 3a) and SUNYAC Player of the Week Ed Doherty (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) added four more (3g, 1a) as the SUNY Potsdam men's lacrosse team (3-2) defeated Morrisville State (1-5) 13-5 on Tuesday afternoon. SUNYAC Goalie and ECAC Co-Defender of the Week Pete Gropp (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) stopped 10 shots for his and the Bears' third straight win.
 
Potsdam took the lead for good just 1:02 into the contest as Soderquist found junior captain Pat Bonafede (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) in front of the net. The Bears flexed their offensive muscle, but Mustangs junior goalie Chris Fiore (Staten Island, N.Y./New Dorp) kept Morrisville in the game early with eight first quarter saves. Junior midfielder Brian Martin (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) made it 2-0 at 11:33 on another Soderquist helper. With 19 seconds left in the quarter, freshman attackman Dalston Day (Akwesasne, N.Y./Salmon River) spun himself through two Mustang defenders at the right side of the goal and ripped a shot into the top of the net.
 
The Bears put the game away with seven goals in the second 15 minutes. Senior captain Jon Woodworth (Great Bend, N.Y./Carthage) started the carnage with an unassisted marker at 9:18. Potsdam then went on a three-goal tear in a 20-second span, largely due to the domination of junior face-off specialist Brandon Grace (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan). Grace won 16 of 19 opportunities he was given in the circle. Junior long stick midfielder Lindsey Pound (Henderson, N.Y./Immaculate Heart) forced a turnover at 7:39, scooped one of his game-high 11 ground balls and fed Doherty to make it 5-0 13 seconds later. Grace knocked the ensuing faceoff to Day, who found Doherty again at 7:16. Like a broken record, Grace batted the next faceoff to junior midfielder Matt Kennedy (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse). Kennedy went the distance and beat Fiore to give the Bears a commanding 7-0 lead.
 
Morrisville finally broke up the shutout at 6:39 of the second quarter as junior attackman Louie Geswaldo (Lafayette, N.Y./Lafayette) capitalized on a turnover and finally solved Gropp. The goal only temporarily slowed Potsdam's onslaught. Soderquist scored two in-a-row at 3:40 and 1:16, with Doherty assisting on the second. Day then set up Doherty with eight seconds left in the half and the Bears took a 10-1 lead into the break. Potsdam also racked up a 31-8 advantage in ground balls by the half.
 
After eight goals were scored in the second quarter, only two were scored in the third. Bonafede gave Potsdam a 10-goal lead at the 4:59 mark on Soderquist's third assist of the day. Geswaldo countered at 2:57 and the score was 11-2 after 45 minutes of play.
 
Off another perfect Grace faceoff win, Kennedy raced down the field and gave Potsdam back its 10-goal advantage just seven seconds into the final quarter. After a timeout at 10:46, Gropp was replaced by sophomore goalie Jack Bezek (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) to complete another fine performance. Morrisville got the next two tallies from senior midfielder Brendan Shannon (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) and senior attackman Andrew Donoghue (Rochester, N.Y./Irondequoit) two minutes apart. With time winding down, the Mustangs got into penalty trouble and Soderquist made them pay with man-up goal on a helper from Day to make it 13-4 at 3:09. With two minutes remaining, Morrisville junior midfielder Eliud Evans (Culver City, Calif./Culver City) struck to close the scoring at 13-5.
 
Bezek finished with two saves and three goals allowed in the final 10:46. Fiore was tagged with the loss despite a strong day with 15 saves.
 
Potsdam outshot the Mustangs 45-27 and finished with a 46-24 advantage in ground balls. The Bears were 1-for-6 on the man advantage and Morrisville was 0-for-3.
 
Potsdam opens up SUNYAC play this Saturday when the Bears host SUNY Geneseo at Clarkson's Hantz field at 1:30 p.m.