A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta men's lacrosse team took to the field for the first time in over a year today and grinded out an 8-6 victory at home versus the visiting Potsdam Bears.  In the divisional format, Oneonta moves to the top of the East standings at 1-0.
 
"Today was a celebration," said Head Coach Pete Owens.  "It has been quite a long road back to competing on the field.  Today was also a grind against a mentally tough opponent.  All games in this conference are, which makes it fun to play in.  It was sloppy and certainly wasn't easy, but our team hung tough and closed it out and there is tremendous value in that."
 
The Inside Story
In a very tightly contest and defensive battle, it was Oneonta that came up with some big stops while creating some breathing room on a goal by junior Dean Cannon (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) at the 5:05 mark.  It was Cannon's second goal of the game, as he joined seniors Thomas McRae (Northport/Northport) and Thomas Fay (Nanuet/Nanuet), who each tallied a pair of goals each as well.
 
It was Fay's second goal with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter that broke a 6-all tie heading into the final quarter.
 
Senior Ryan MacDevitt (Sayville/Sayville) notched his first goal of the season at the 11:15 mark of the opening quarter to give Oneonta the early lead.  Potsdam tied the game two minutes later on a goal by senior Josh Huiatt.
 
McRae and Cannon scored back-to-back tallies less than one minute apart from each other to push the Red Dragons ahead 3-1.  The Bears came back with a pair of goals including a man-up goal by Huiatt to bring the score back to even after one quarter of play.
 
Oneonta outscored Potsdam 3-1 in the second quarter to grab a 6-4 lead at the break.  McRae, Fay and sophomore Sam Haita (Stephentown/La Salle Institute) each scored for the Red Dragons.
 
Huiatt scored his third goal of the game at the 6:51 mark of the third quarter to tie the game at six apiece before Fay's goal to give Oneonta the lead.
 
Just the Stats
Potsdam held a slight 30-28 shot advantage while Oneonta won 11 of 18 face-offs led by junior Tim Shanley, who recorded six wins.  The Red Dragons were good on 20-of-21 clears and collected 20 ground balls.
 
Junior Jordan Berson (Old Bethpage/JFK) picked up his initial win of the season making seven saves in goal while his counterpart from Potsdam made nine saves.
 
What's Next
Oneonta will have the week to rest and prepare for Plattsburgh in it's first road contest of the season.  The game is slated for Friday, Apr. 2 at 4pm.