Morrisville, N.Y. – In a thrilling overtime finish, SUNY Poly edged out Morrisville 10-9 in a hard-fought men's lacrosse battle. Three Wildcats tallied multiple goals, with senior Payton Thomas leading the charge with four, including the game-winning goal in overtime. Joseph VanZandt played strong in goal, stopping 12 shots. The victory improves the Wildcats to 3-1 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The game kicked off with SUNY Morrisville striking first. Daniel Squires opened the scoring at 13:38, followed quickly by Brian Kelly's goal, which doubled their lead. The Wildcats responded just minutes later, as Kai Hew found the back of the net at 11:36. The teams exchanged turnovers and possessions before Payton Thomas tied the game at 2-2 for SUNY Poly. However, the Mustangs closed out the first quarter strong, with goals from Kyan Dohn and Squires, giving them a 5-2 lead heading into the second.

Griffin LaFleur's man-up goal at 7:44 in the second quarter cut the deficit to 5-3 for SUNY Poly, but the Mustangs responded with another goal from Squires. Both teams had shots attempts towards the end of the quarter, but couldn't find the back of the goal, and Morrisville entered halftime with a 6-3 advantage.

The Wildcats found their rhythm in the third quarter, as Ian Short capitalized on a man-up opportunity to make it 6-4. After a successful extra-man play from Morrisville's Jason Tedeschi to push their lead to 7-4, SUNY Poly answered. Hew's second goal of the game brought the Wildcats within striking distance at 7-5, and Thomas added a third goal, off an assist from Short, to make it 7-6. Morrisville regained the lead late in the quarter with another goal from Dohn, giving them an 8-7 advantage heading into the final period.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with the Wildcats coming out strong. Short tied the game at 8-8 with a goal assisted by Thomas. Shortly after, Thomas capitalized on an extra-man opportunity, giving SUNY Poly their first lead of the game at 9-8. The Mustangs refused to go down quietly, though, and with 4:34 left, Nicholas DeNicola tied the game again at 9-9, sending it into overtime.

In overtime, the Wildcats won the crucial faceoff, and just minutes into the extra frame, a penalty on SUNY Morrisville gave SUNY Poly a man-up opportunity. With the advantage, Payton Thomas sealed the victory, burying the game-winning goal and giving the Wildcats a dramatic 10-9 win.