POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's lacrosse team (1-2) pulled away from Utica College (0-2) over the final three quarters to earn a 14-4 victory on Saturday afternoon. Sophomores Josh Huiatt (Lisbon, N.Y./Hugh C. Williams), Tayte Murray (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) and Nick Slate (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) each had career days to lead the Bears. Huiatt and Murray each recorded five points on three goals and two assists, while Slate added another three goals. Junior goalie Zach Sheridan (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) stopped 14 shots for his first career victory.

The teams traded the first four goals over the opening 7:48 of the contest. Senior attackman Lukas Baildon (Germany, N.Y./JFKS Berlin) set up Huiatt to open the scoring at 13:35. Pioneers senior attackman Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, Ontario/St. Stephen Catholic) evened the score 1:10 later. Senior midfielder Eric Soderquist (Watertown, N.Y./Watertown) made it 2-1 Potsdam at 10:18, but Desveaux struck again at 7:12 with a man-up goal to even the score. Junior long-stick midfielder Colby Chapman (Johnson City, N.Y./Johnson City) gave the Bears the lead for good at 5:23 on a strange play. The Bears fired a long pass downfield into a crowd. Chapman came up with the ball in front of the net and fired it past Pioneers junior goalie Harrison Bower (Kings Park, N.Y./Northport) for a 3-2 lead. With 3:06 left in the quarter, junior midfielder Ryan Waldron (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) fed Slate and Potsdam led 4-2 after 15 minutes.

Utica outshot the Bears 9-5 in the second quarter, but fell further behind. Sheridan made six saves in the period to frustrate the Pioneers. At the 11:23 mark, Huiatt raced in all alone and ripped as shot past Bower for the lone goal of the second quarter and the eventual game winner. Potsdam led 5-2 at the break.

At 9:25 of the third quarter, the Bears were whistled for simultaneous 30-second penalties. Up two men, the Pioneers' Desveaux added his team-high third goal. Utica wasn't able to create any momentum and 1:01 later, Murray set up Waldron to make it 6-3 and start a 9-0 run. Murray scored a man-up goal at 6:59. Freshman attackman Ryan Cunningham (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) recorded his first collegiate point with an assist on Baildon's goal at 5:49. Huiatt added another unassisted marker with 11 seconds remaining and Potsdam took a 9-3 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Murray and Slate each scored twice in final 15 minutes. Murray scored at 11:34 and 8:30 , with Huiatt assisting on the first. Huiatt set up Slate at 10:09 and Murray notched the helper on Slate's man-up goal at 7:57. Junior midfielder Chris Graniello (Bellport, N.Y./Bellport) scored his first career goal at 6:08 to make it 14-3 Potsdam. Pioneers senior attackman Nick Yelich (Lancaster, N.Y./Depew) added one final goal with just eight second left to close the scoring at 14-4.

Bower finished with 14 saves. The Bears outshot Utica 45-28 and picked up 47 ground balls to the Pioneers' 24. Potsdam also controlled the faceoff circle with 14 victories, including another strong performance from senior Marc Leveroni (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), who won 12 of 17 attempts. Sophomore Luke Vitale (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlow) won two of the three faceoffs he took as well. Leveroni also posted a game-high nine ground balls.

The Bears look to keep rolling on Tuesday night when they host Castleton University at 7 p.m.