POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men’s lacrosse team (4-5, 1-0 SUNYAC) built a big first half lead and held off Brockport 8-7 in its SUNYAC opener on Saturday afternoon. Senior Kevin Green (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) scored five goals to lead the Bears and junior Peter Pike (Watertown, N.Y./General Brown) contributed two tallies. Freshman Brendan Rothfuss (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) paced the Golden Eagles with two goals and an assist.

Green got Potsdam off to a strong start with the first three goals of the contest in the first four minutes. After an offensive lull, Pike scored with 12 seconds left in the first quarter and sophomore Kyle Nicholas (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) made it 5-0 Bears with a goal just eight seconds into the second quarter. Junior Nate Thomas (Cortland, N.Y/Cortland) finally got Brockport on the board at the 9:48 mark. Green responded with his final two goals at 5:29 and 3:16 and Potsdam led 7-1 at the half.

The Golden Eagles shifted the momentum completely in the second half, going on a 4-0 run of their own from the midpoint of third quarter until 5:18 of the fourth quarter. With under four minutes to play Brockport senior goalie Jon Fiorillo (Painted Post, N.Y./Corning West) carried the ball all the way across midfield before Potsdam freshman Billy Temple (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-N. Syracuse) knocked the ball free. Temple scooped up the groundball, fired it down field to Pike who launched a long shot from just outside the attack box into the open net. The goal proved to be the game-winner as goals the Golden Eagles scored with 1:14 and 35 seconds remaining, but came up one short.

Potsdam senior goalie Pat Corbine (Canton, N.Y./Hugh C. Williams) finished with 14 saves to earn the win. Fiorillo stopped eight shots for Brockport.

The Golden Eagles outshot the Bears 37-25, including a 21-5 advantage in the second half. Potsdam was 1-8 on the man-advantage and Brockport was 0-6. Junior Zeppy O’Geen (Massena, N.Y./Massena) won 12 of 20 faceoffs for the Bears.

Potsdam Head Coach Rick Berkman had praise for his defense after the win.

“Our defense played great overall,” said Berkman. “I’m proud of the effort by Pat Corbine in goal, and (junior) Rashaun Durden (Buffalo, N.Y./Williamsville East) really locked down on their best offensive player.”

Berkman was happy with the quick start by his offense, but credited Fiorillo for cooling them down.

“Our offense came out strong in the first half and we started with a lot of emotion,” added Berkman. “Then Brockport’s goalie got hot and we lost our confidence offensively.”

The Bears are back in action on Tuesday, April 5, when they host Clarkson at 4 p.m.