POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's lacrosse team (4-6, 1-3 SUNYAC) defeated SUNY New Paltz (2-9, 0-4) 12-8 on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore midfielder
Peyton Walsh (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) led the Bears with three goals and an assist for four points. Senior captain
Henry Reber (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) had two goals and an assist and sophomore attackman
Cobie Cree (Hogansburg, N.Y./Salmon River) and junior midfielder
Alex Burley (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) each had two goals. Sophomore goalie
Liam O'Neil was impressive with 15 saves for the victory.
Freshman midfielder James Flanagan (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown North) opened the scoring to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead at 11:53 of the first quarter. Potsdam answered with back-to-back goals from Reber and Walsh. New Paltz midfielder Elias Elcock (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) tied the game a final time at 2:27. With 15 seconds left in the opening 15 minutes, Reber fed Walsh to make it 3-2. The goal was the start of a 6-0 Potsdam run.
The Bears scored the only two goals of the second quarter. Senior captain
Alec Miller (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville North) scored at 3:31 with an assist from fellow senior captain
Cam Talcott (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam). Talcott then scored an unassisted marker at 1:46 and Potsdam took a 5-2 lead into the break.
The Bears outscored the Hawks 5-1 in the third quarter. Freshman midfielder
Drew Rose (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) set up Reber at 9:50.
Peyton Walsh fed freshman midfielder
Owen Walsh (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) at 8:31.
Peyton Walsh then scored his third of the day at 5:44 to make it an 8-2 contest. Two minutes later, freshman midfielder Anthony Senecal (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) ended the run with New Paltz's third goal. Cree and Burley countered with the last two goals of the quarter and Potsdam led 10-3 after 45 minutes.
Elcock and Cree traded the first two goals of the fourth quarter and it was 11-4 with 8:05 remaining. A four-goal burst from the Hawks in a 2:30 span closed the gap to 11-8. Junior midfielder Aidan Gregory (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) scored two in a row, including a man-up goal at 5:30. Senecal scored the third and freshman midfielder Ethan Scully (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bayshore) won the ensuing faceoff and scored unassisted at 2:00. With the lead trimmed to three, the Bears maintained possession and Burley added insurance at 1:27 to close the scoring.
Sophomore Ryan Steinhart (Hauppage, N.Y./Hauppage) started and finished the game in goal for the Hawks, making 12 saves and allowing six goals in 35:30. Junior Nate Lindsey (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) played the middle 24:30 until an injury forced him to the sidelines, allowing six goals and stopping five shots.
In addition to his offense, Payton Walsh finished with seven ground balls, two caused turnovers and nine faceoff wins. Freshman long-stick middie
Ben Lagoner (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) also compiled seven ground balls and two caused turnovers. Senior captain
Trent Woodroe (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) had four ground balls and three caused turnovers and junior defender
Ryan Derion (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) collected six ground balls.
The Bears are back in action in one week when they head to Brockport for a 1 p.m. contest.
