POTSDAM, N.Y.—Clarkson University (7-2) used a strong second half to defeat the SUNY Potsdam men's lacrosse team (4-3) 13-8 in a non-conference battle at Clarkson on Wednesday evening. Brian Huff scored four goals for the Golden Knights and sophomore attackman Rob Kunz matched him for the Bears.

The teams traded the first five goals of the contest. Matt McCabe opened the scoring just 50 seconds into the game to give Clarkson a 1-0 lead. Junior midfielder Pat Morrill evened the score 1:12 later. Huff notched his first at 10:54 and Bears sophomore Jared Flath answered at 8:31. The Golden Knights opened up a 4-2 lead with two straight from Huff and Matt Cyr and carried the lead through the end of the first quarter.

Kunz opened the second 15 minutes to with two straight to tie the game and Morrill gave Potsdam its first lead with his second goal at 7:00. After McCabe tied the game at 5-5 at 5:33, the Bears struck late in the half. Kunz made a diving interception at the left of the goal and fed senior attack Pete Pike in front. Pike had nearly an open net to shoot at as Clarkson goalie Ryan Cole goal was out of position. However, Cole got his stick on the first shot, but Pike scooped up the rebound and buried the second chance with 18 seconds left. The Bears took the 6-5 advantage into the break.

The Golden Knights opened the third quarter on a 4-0 run, starting with a man-up goal from Corey Herrington at 13:05. Matthew Gold capped the run and Clarkson led 9-6 with 2:18 left in the half. Freshman midfielder Dave Kunz won the ensuing faceoff cleanly and fed brother Rob to cut the lead to 9-7 just six seconds later. McCabe struck for another man-up goal at 1:32 to put the Golden Knights up 10-7 after three quarters.

Huff and Eric Gollands scored the next two goals and Clarkson built a 12-7 lead with 6:51 on the clock. Kunz notched his fourth at 6:01, but the Bears couldn't get closer. Huff buried his fourth with 3:31 left to cap the scoring at 13-8.

In goal, Cole made nine saves to earn the victory, while Potsdam senior goalie Mike Quinlan finished with seven stops.

The Bears outshot the Golden Knights 33-30 edged them in ground balls 29-24. Clarkson was 2-5 in man-up situations and Potsdam was 0-3.

The Bears open SUNYAC play on Saturday, April 7, when they travel to Brockport to take on the Golden Eagles at 1 p.m. Potsdam is 9-1 in its last 10 meetings with Brockport.