POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's lacrosse team (5-2, 1-0 SUNYAC) overwhelmed SUNY Canton (1-6, 0-1) 24-2 in the teams' SUNYAC opener. The Bears also honored their 12 seniors prior to the contest.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Kangaroos came out with good energy and scored two of the first three goals. However, the Bears answered with 23 straight tallies.
• Potsdam led 6-2 after one quarter. Senior midfielder Owen Walsh (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) had two of the goals and senior attackman Cobie Cree (Akwesasne, N.Y./Salmon River) and senior midfielder Ryan Hughes (Corning, N.Y./Corning-Painted Post) each had a goal and an assist in the first.
• The Bears put the game away with 10 goals in the second quarter and took a 16-2 lead into the half. Junior attackman Billy Kozloski (Johnson City, N.Y./Johnson City) had three goals and junior midfielder Tyler Gould (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) added two goals and two assists. Sophomore midfielder Braden Fahey (Halfmoon, N.Y./Shenendehowa) also scored twice.
• Potsdam added four more goals in the third quarter for a 20-2 advantage. Walsh scored twice and senior midfielder Drew Rose (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) and sophomore midfielder Andrew Gubbins (South Pomfret, Vt./Woodstock Union) had the other two. It was Gubbins' first career goal.
• Walsh scored the first of the Bears' four, fourth quarter goals. Senior attackman Drew Talcott (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) netted the next two, the first of his career. Gubbins then closed the scoring with his second at 1:09 on an assist from freshman midfielder Sebastien Laughing (Akwesasne, N.Y./Salmon River). It was Laughing's first collegiate point.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Senior goalie Liam O'Neil (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) made four saves and allowed two goals in the first half to earn the victory.
• Junior goalie Saka Thompson (Akwesasne, N.Y./Salmon River) stopped one shot in third quarter and graduate student Chris Wilk (Rutland, Vt./Rutland) made three saves in the fourth quarter.
• Junior goalie Hayden Todd (Canton, N.Y./Hugh C. Williams) allowed 16 goals and made nine saves in the first half for Canton.
• Senior goalie Sam Servati (Rochester, N.Y./Gates Chili) also stopped nine shots and allowed eight goals for the Roos.
• Walsh finished with a career-high eight points on six goals and two assists to go with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Gould also had a career day with two goals and four assists for six points with four ground balls.
• Kozloski scored four goals and corralled three ground balls.
• Hughes (2g, 2a), Cree (1g, 3a) and Rose (2g, 2a) all had four points.
• Junior faceoff specialist Drew Costello (Ogdensburg, N.Y./Ogdensburg Free Academy) continued to dominate with 19 wins in 23 attempts and a contest-best nine ground balls.  

 
CLIMBING THE PROGRAM RANKS

• O'Neil's victory was the 11th victory of his career, tying him for ninth on the program's list.
• Walsh now has 155 points on 94 goals and 61 assists. He's eighth in the Potsdam ranks in scoring and ninth in goals and assists.
• Cree ranks 11th in points (144) and eighth in goals (96).

 
SENIORS
Today the Bears recognized seniors Hughes, Cree, captain Jake Lynch (Alexandria Bay, N.Y./Alexandria), Walsh, captain Ben Lagoner (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas), Wilk, Rose, captain Cole Slavin (Corning, N.Y./Corning-Painted Post), long-stick midfielder Ben Welch (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas), Talcott, defender Owen Dunham (Whitney Point, N.Y./Whitney Point) and O'Neil prior to the game.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Bears host St. Lawrence University on Tuesday at 4 p.m.