Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Women's Lacrosse team played the first of six straight home games to open the season on Sunday afternoon, suffering a 15-4 loss to visiting SUNY Potsdam. Senior Christina Ryan (Franklin Square, N.Y.) finished the season opener with three points.
 
The visitors scored the first five goals of the game on Sunday over the opening 19-and-a-half minutes before the Knights broke through with their first goal of the season. Freshman Nicole Cervone (Shirley, N.Y.) deposited her first career goal to bring the Knights to within 5-1 with 6:38 left before halftime.
 
The Bears answered the Cervone tally with the last four goals of the first half to carry a 9-1 lead into the intermission. Danielle Pound scored just over a minute after Cervone with Alexa Ferrer, Ashley Burrowes and Rachael Huntley all adding markers before the intermission.
 
Potsdam finished the first half with a 13-6 advantage in shots and an 11-4 edge in shots on goal. The Bears picked up seven of the 13 first half groundballs awarded, while the Knights went into the half with a slim 6-5 advantage in draw controls.
 
After Cayla O'Connor pushed Potsdam in front 10-1 early in the second half, Mount Saint Mary scored consecutive goals just under eight minutes apart to get the disadvantage to 10-3, but would manage just one more goal over the final 18:53 of the contest. Ryan had a hand in all three second half goals, scoring her first of the season and assisting on the two others.
 
Ryan closed the day with a goal and a pair of helpers for three points, while Kayla Gilligan (Amityville, N.Y.) potted a pair of goals for the Mount. Olivia Green (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) added an assist for the Knights to go along with four groundballs.
 
Junior Maggie Pedersen (Glasco, N.Y.) won a team-high three draw controls for the Knights on Sunday with Morgan Cordes (Sound Beach, N.Y.), Morgan Pavlik (Monroe, Conn.) and Liz Halpin (LaGrangeville, N.Y.) all picking up three groundballs.
 
Potsdam was led by five goals and three assists from O'Connor in the game and received three goals and four points from Alli Stark. O'Connor won four draw controls, while Zoe Morgenroth caused four turnovers.
 
Amanda Picillo (Valley Stream, N.Y.) finished the day with three saves in goal and a pair of caused turnovers, while freshman Jackie Finkel (Warwick, N.Y.) made a single save in the first action of her collegiate career. Katie Longamore made seven stops for Potsdam and led all players with five groundballs in the game.
 
Potsdam rounded out the game with the advantage in shots 22-16, shots on goal 19-11 and draw controls 12-9, while the Knights finished up with a 17-14 edge in groundballs. The Bears finished 16-for-20 in clearing chances, while the Mount was successful on nine of its 13 attempts.
 
At 0-1 on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns to action on March 8 when it welcomes Husson to Newburgh. Opening Draw at Kaplan Field is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.