MARCY, N.Y. - With a 15-7 win on Saturday over SUNY Canton, the SUNY Poly Wildcats are the 2021 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) West Division Champions. SUNY Poly continued their outstanding season with a win which saw the Wildcats play lockdown defense and selfless offense. With the win, the Wildcat's win streak improves to a program-best nine games. The Wildcats will host the NAC Championship Game against Husson University next week. Date and time of the game will be announced next week.

The Wildcat win followed a familiar pattern. A strong start saw the 'Cats work their way to a 5-2 lead after a quarter of play. SUNY Poly put the game in the books with a long 9-2 run which spanned the end of the second quarter, the entire third quarter, and the start of the fourth. The SUNY Poly defense was outstanding, allowing just 11 shots on goal and forcing 14 turnovers in the game. The Wildcat offense put the pressure on Canton, putting 31 of their 40 shots on goal. All but two of the Wildcat's 15 goals came off of an assist.  

GAME NOTES:

• Canton's Kyle Fingar put up a team-high four points on four goals. He also had three groundballs.
• Canton's Zack LaFave had three points on a pair of goals and an assist.
• The Canton goalkeeper Justin LaDuke made 16 saves in the game. He ends his season with a 3-4 record in goal.
• Nick Walberger had a solid game for the Roos. He went 13-18 in the faceoff circle and had a game-high nine groundballs. 
• Edward Rosaschi had a game-high six points on three goals and three assists for the Wildcats. The senior now has 194 career points and has his sights set on becoming the first 200 point scorer in SUNY Poly's history.
• Amelio Ripa, Rhett Stauffer, and Ryan Mead all scored two goals and each had an assist for SUNY Poly.
• Brody Guido helped the Wildcats get off on the right foot early in the game. He had two points in the game on a pair of assists. The assists came on the Wildcat's first two goals of the game.
• Matthew Johnson improved his season record to 9-0 this season. He made four saves in 54 minutes of play.
• SUNY Poly defenseman Steven Sullivan had a game-high three caused turnovers. He also had three groundballs.
• Tyler Schmitz had a team-high six groundballs for SUNY Poly.
• Matt Fisher and Jason Crandall each had a goal and an assist in the game.

UP NEXT:

The Wildcats will host the North Atlantic Conference Championship Game next week at Wildcat Field. The game date and time have not yet been announced but will be determined sometime in the next few days. The winner of the NAC Championship will receive the NAC's auto-qualifying bid to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. The NAC Championship will be streamed live on the SUNY Poly Sports Network.

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SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) is New York's globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem, formed from the merger of the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering and SUNY Institute of Technology. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience and nanoeconomics programs at its Albany location and undergraduate and graduate degrees in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences at its Utica/Rome location. Thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. As the world's most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts billions of dollars in high-tech investments and over 300 corporate partners since its inception. For information visit www.sunypoly.edu.