HOW IT HAPPENED:
SUNY Poly wasted little time asserting control, forcing Keuka into early mistakes and turning those opportunities into quick offense. After a strong defensive start and several early saves from Tyler Baisley, the Wildcats broke through at the 13:56 mark of the opening quarter when Cooper Fitzgerald buried the game's first goal.
The offense kept rolling from there. Mitchell Taylor added another less than a minute later to make it 2–0, and Fitzgerald struck again at 10:28 as SUNY Poly continued to pressure Keuka in transition. Mitchell Taylor then found the back of the net again at 8:07, finishing off a feed from Ryan Carroll, before Fitzgerald completed a first-quarter hat trick with another goal at 7:16, this time off an assist from Liam Podszebka.
The Wildcats capped the explosive first quarter with one more tally from Ryan Carroll at 2:38, set up by Mitchell Taylor, taking a 6–0 lead late into the period. Keuka got on the board with a man-up goal from Harrison Root at 1:30, but SUNY Poly still carried a commanding 6–1 advantage into the second.
The Wildcats answered quickly in the second quarter and never gave Keuka any room to build momentum. Just under a minute into the frame, Kai Hew found the net to make it 7–1, and after Keuka briefly answered with a goal from Nikolas Gitsis, SUNY Poly put together its most decisive stretch of the afternoon.
With the extra-man unit clicking, Casey Ryan converted a man-up goal at 11:09 off an assist from Hew to restore a six-goal edge. From there, the Wildcats piled on with four goals in just over two minutes. Ryan Carroll scored at 7:28, Fitzgerald added another at 7:10, and then scored again at 6:08 to push the margin into double digits. Casey Ryan closed the first-half scoring at 5:20, once again finishing a setup from Hew, as SUNY Poly headed into halftime with a dominant 12–2 lead.
The third quarter featured more of the same, as SUNY Poly's defense continued to smother Keuka while the offense remained efficient. The Wildcats opened the second half with another strike from Fitzgerald at 13:41, and after weathering a few possessions at both ends, he struck again at 8:52 off an assist from Hew to extend the lead to 14–2.
SUNY Poly also saw strong play in goal after halftime, with Mac Fitzgerald stepping in and helping preserve the advantage with a pair of saves in the third quarter. The Wildcats continued to force turnovers, win ground balls, and keep Keuka from generating any consistent offensive rhythm.
With the game well in hand entering the fourth, SUNY Poly remained patient and composed while continuing to create quality chances. Keuka's goalie Jaxson Tucker came up with several saves to keep the margin from growing even larger, but the Wildcats eventually broke through one final time at 6:59, when Fitzgerald netted his seventh goal of the day off another feed from Hew to cap the scoring at 15–2.
