Paxton, MA: The SUNY Cobleskill men's lacrosse team battled hard, but fell 10-7 on the road to Anna Maria on Friday night in a non-confernce matchup.

Alex Baker (Guilford, VT/Brattleboro Union) led the offensive effort with a hat trick on nine shots on goal, while Rob Staubitz (East Rockaway, NY) facilitated the attack with three assists and a team-high seven ground balls. Albert Sippio (Syracuse, NY/ITC) found the back of the net twice on four shots on target, and Noah Palange (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Pompton) was a perfect 2-for-2 on his shot attempts. James Meier (Guilderland, NY) stood tall in net, recording a game-high 18 saves, but moves to 1-1 on the season.

The Fighting Tigers were outshot on goal 28-19 and collecting just 12 ground balls compared to Anna Maria's 31. Faceoffs were a challenge, with Cobleskill winning just 1-of-20 draws, and the Tigers were unable to convert on seven extra-man opportunities, while Anna Maria capitalized on four of nine.

Cobleskill came out firing, with Palange striking less than two minutes into the contest to set the tone. Baker doubled the lead just a minute later off a feed from Staubitz, and Palange's second tally made it 3-0 with 5:46 left in the first quarter. Sippio kept the Tigers rolling, ripping a shot past the keeper to give Cobleskill a commanding 4-0 lead at the end of the period.
Anna Maria broke through early in the second quarter to make it a 4-1 game, but Sippio responded with his second goal to keep the Tigers in control. Meier anchored the defense with several key saves, and the teams went scoreless the rest of the half, sending Cobleskill into the break with a 5-1 advantage.

The momentum shifted quickly in the third quarter as Anna Maria's offense came alive, scoring three unanswered goals in the first three minutes to trim the deficit. Baker momentarily halted the run with his second goal at 9:57 to give Cobleskill a 6-4 edge, but the Amcats countered with a man-up goal and another strike just 30 seconds later to tie the game at 6-6. They carried that surge into their first lead of the night, going up 7-6 with four minutes left in the third.

Anna Maria extended their lead with two more goals to open the fourth, including another on an extra-man opportunity, to push the score to 9-6. Baker completed his hat trick with just over five minutes remaining to bring Cobleskill within two, but the Amcats delivered the final blow at the 4:33 mark, securing the 10-7 win.

Cobleskill will return to action after spring break on March 15, traveling to Elmira College for a non-conference showdown at 12:00 p.m.