A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta men's lacrosse team traveled to Plattsburgh today and came away with an 11-5 victory to earn its initial SUNYAC win of the season.  The win for the Red Dragons also snapped a seven-game skid, as they are now 2-8 overall and 1-2 in the conference.
 
The Inside Story
Oneonta blew open the game in the final quarter scoring five times after leading 6-4 entering the fourth.  The scoring started at the 9:23 mark when junior Sam Haita (Stephentown/La Salle Institute) scored his second goal of the game off an assist from classmate Luke Maslin (Owego/Owego Free Academy).
 
Oneonta put the game out of reach with four unanswered over a four-minute stretch that included a pair of goals by freshman Vincent Tirino (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue).  Haita added another goal while Ben Konak (South Salem/John Jay) scored his second of the game.
 
The two teams combined for seven goals in the opening quarter with the hosts holding a slim 4-3 advantage at the end of the quarter.
 
Plattsburgh grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the opening five minutes of play before Haita scored an unassisted goal to cut the deficit in half.  Plattsburgh's Stephen Kane scored his second goal of the quarter to put the Cardinals back up by a pair.  The Red Dragons came right back one minute later when junior Jack Dinnegan (Blauvelt/Tappan Zee) scored his first of the season unassisted.  The two squads traded goals including a goal by Connor Gallagher (Montrose/Hendrick Hudson) with 59 seconds remaining in the quarter to pull Oneonta to within one goal entering the second quarter.
 
Midway through the second quarter, junior David Guest (Niskayuna/Niskayuna) evened the score at 4-4 with a goal off an assist from senior Dean Cannon (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa).  A little over one minute later, Tirino gave Oneonta the lead with an assist from Gallagher.  The Red Dragons took its 5-4 lead into halftime.
 
The lone goal of the third quarter was scored by Konak unassisted for his first goal of the season.  Goalie Luke Mignoli (Long Beach/Long Beach) made five saves in the third quarter to keep Plattsburgh scoreless for a second consecutive quarter.
 
Just the Stats
Despite being outshot 43-38 in the contest, Oneonta was able to get 25 of its shots on goal.  The Red Dragons won 11-of-20 face-offs, collected 28 ground balls and caused 10 turnovers.
 
Mignoli finished the game with 15 saves to pick up the win.
 
What's Next
Oneonta will be in action next this coming Friday night when they will face its rival Cortland Red Dragons beginning at 7pm.
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