POTSDAM, N.Y.—A five-goal second quarter and clutch goaltending proved to be the difference as SUNY Plattsburgh (5-6, 1-1 SUNYAC) held off the SUNY Potsdam men's lacrosse team (9-2, 2-1) 10-8 on Wednesday night. Four Bears scored two goals on the evening, while Cardinals senior attackman Patrick Nash (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) had a game-high five goals.
 
Extra-man opportunities were the story of the contest early. Nash opened the scoring at 12:06, while on the man-advantage. Just over five minutes later, junior midfielder Casey Boulio (Carthage, N.Y./Carthage) tied the contest with a low shot. At 5:26, junior attackman Michael Roukous (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) put Potsdam in front with an assist from senior captain Pat Bonafede (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) in the team's first man-up situation. The Bears led 2-1 after 15 minutes.
 
Plattsburgh sophomore attackman Ryan Hubbard (Aquebogue, N.Y./Riverhead) tied the game just 39 seconds into the second quarter. Junior midfielder Matt Moran (Watertown, N.Y./Immaculate Heart) gave the Bears the lead one final time at 13:18 before the Cardinals started a 6-2 run that lasted into the third quarter. Nash scored two in a row at 11:17 and 9:13, the first a man-up goal, and Plattsburgh never trailed again. Just 53 seconds later, sophomore attackman Eric Soderquist (Watertown, N.Y./Watertown) got the Bears even one final time at 4-4 with another man-up tally. Sophomore midfielder Mathew Prokesch (Manorville, N.Y./Delaware University) and Nash scored in succession and Plattsburgh took a 6-4 advantage into the break. Senior midfielder Matt Kennedy (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) nearly got Potsdam within one with 4:57 to go in the half, but his shot clanged off the post.
 
Plattsburgh juniors Austin Belz (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) and Kyle Espejo (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) scored in the opening 3:43 of the second half, separated by Roukous' second of the night and the Cardinals led 8-5 with 11:07 left in the third.  Soderquist struck at 8:58 and Boulio barreled his way through multiple defenders at 7:44 to make it an 8-7 contest. Bears senior captain Ed Doherty (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) nearly tied the game at 6:13, but Plattsburgh senior goalie Matt Massaria (Foral Park, N.Y./Nassau C.C.) came up with his biggest save of the contest. Goals by Hubbard and Nash followed to negate the Potsdam's push and the Cardinals led by three after 45 minutes.
 
The Bears opened the fourth quarter down a man for three minutes after an illegal stick penalty, but managed to kill it off. Moran then scored 30 seconds later to make it 10-8. Boulio just missed a hat trick at 9:02 with another shot off the post and Massaria made three more saves in the final 3:15 clinch the win for Plattsburgh.
 
In goal, Bears senior captain Pete Gropp (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) had another strong game, finishing with 15 saves. Massaria recorded 13 stops.
 
Potsdam outshot the Cardinals 43-37 and topped Plattsburgh 13-8 in faceoffs, with senior Brandon Grace (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan) claiming all the wins.
 
The Bears look to rebound when they host SUNY Cortland (6-5, 2-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m.