Despite falling behind early to start its season opener, the Clarkson University Women’s Lacrosse team made a game of it, but fell short in its bid for a victory, losing to cross-town rival SUNY Potsdam 11-8 at Hantz Turf Field on a rainy Thursday evening.

Potsdam (1-0) opened the non-league affair, scoring the game’s first 6-0 goals, with Aubrey Macintosh scoring twice, to take a commanding lead midway through the first half. The Golden Knights regrouped, however, and answered back five straight goals to cut the deficit to one with 3:19 remaining in the first. Senior Saryn Campbell (West Bolton, VT) and junior Alyssa Cristaldi (North Syracuse, NY) tallied twice and freshman Cassie Grace (Potsdam, NY) netted one goal in the rally. The teams traded a goal apiece in the closing minutes of the first half to make it a 7-6 lead for the Bears after the opening 30 minutes.

Potsdam opened the second half much the same way it started the game, scoring three straight goals to go on top 10-6 with 21 minutes to play.

Clarkson closed the gap to 10-8 with a pair of goals by junior Katie VanDeValk (Baldwinsville, NY), but Potsdam held off the Green and Gold the rest of the way to gain the season-opening victory.

VanDeValk led all scorers with a game-high four points, including three goals. Macintosh led the Bears with three goals.

Potsdam held a slim 31-30 edge in shots, while both teams recorded 17 ground balls each.

Sophomore Kara DiNatale (Auburn, NH) started the game in the Clarkson goal and played the first 10:34, making one save on six shots. Senior Hannah Walters (Amherst, NH) played the final 49 minutes for the Knights and posted seven saves on 13 shots.

Kaci Milligan picked up the win for the Bears with a 14-save effort.