POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women's lacrosse team (1-0) defeated SUNY Poly (0-2) 13-5 in its season opener on Saturday afternoon. Senior captain
Megan MacWilliams (Parishville, N.Y./Parishville-Hopkinton) led the way with five goals and an assist. The victory was the first for Bears interim head coach
Taylor Swamp '25.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Potsdam outscored the Wildcats 4-1 in the first quarter. Junior attack Abby Kraus (Buffalo, N.Y./Frontier) scored just 1:11 into the contest. Sophomore midfielder Brinley Ronan (Whitesboro, N.Y./Whitesboro) countered for SUNY Poly at 8:02 to tie the game. Sophomore attacks Ava Murphy (Lisbon, N.Y./Lisbon) and Jayla Thompson (Hogansburg, N.Y./Massena) and MacWilliams answered with three straight goals. Murphy's goal came while a player up and senior captain Auna Shadle (Massena, N.Y./Massena) assisted on Thompson's marker.
- The Bears had a 2-1 advantage in the second quarter. After Wildcat sophomore attack Lindsay Ellis (New Hartford, N.Y./New Hartford) netted a man-up goal, MacWilliams and Kraus answered with a man-up goal each. It was 6-2 Bears at the half.
- Potsdam added three more goals in the third, while SUNY Poly scored twice. Thompson buried a feed from MacWilliams, followed by Shadle's first career goal. Brinley then scored her second for the Wildcats. MacWilliams netted another with a helper from Murphy. Freshman midfielder Alexa Ulanday (Chester, N.Y./Chester Academy) scored SUNY Poly's fourth with 55 seconds left to make it a 9-4 game through 45 minutes.
- The Bears put the contest away with a 4-1 fourth quarter. Murphy set up Thompson 25 seconds into the final 15 minutes. MacWilliams scored her fourth at 7:14. Ronan completed her hat trick at 5:37 with the Wildcats' final goal. Sophomore midfielder Maggie Akin (Potsdam, N.Y./Potsdam) scored her first career goal at 5:19 and Murphy set up MacWilliams again at 4:02 for the game's final tally.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The Bears outshot the Wildcats 30-17 and had a 15-4 advantage in draw controls.
- Murphy finished with a goal and four assists along with two caused turnovers.
- Thompson had a hat trick and Shadle finished with a goal and two assists along with six draw controls. Kraus added two goals.
- Senior goalie Olivia Minarich (Albany, N.Y./Albany) made six saves for her third career win.
- SUNY Poly senior goalie Rebecca Thomas (Marcy, N.Y./Whitesboro) stopped nine shots.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Bears host crosstown foe Clarkson University on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.