The women’s lacrosse team opened up their State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) schedule with two losses to SUNY Cortland Saturday, March 31, 5-15, and SUNY Oneonta Tuesday, April 3, 7-17,
Despite the losses, the Hawks improved their scores from last year against the two teams (Lost to Cortland 6-20, Oneonta 3-17 in 2017). New Paltz moves to 4-4 on the season.
“We have a team that puts a tremendous amount of effort into everything that they do,” said head coach Keith Detelj. “The last two losses were a good learning experience for our team and if we can be more consistent and poised, we will be able to respond to the momentum swings.”
Looking to rebound from Saturday’s performance against Cortland, the Hawks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Oneonta with a goal from second-year midfielder Emily Puciloski assisted by fourth-year attack Caitlyn Morris, along with another goal by third-year midfielder Ashley Seiter assisted by first-year attacker Amy Hofer. The Red Dragons answered with five consecutive goals of their own, putting the score to 2-5.
After a goal by third-year midfielder Rachael Purtell, assisted by fourth-year attacker Kayla Massena to put the Hawks behind just two at 4-6, the Red Dragons finished the half off with four unanswered goals, putting New Paltz behind 4-10 going into the second.
Purtell opened the scoring for the Hawks in the second half with her third goal of the game. Momentum quickly swung back to Oneonta’s side, scoring three unanswered goals in less than five minutes to put them up top 13-5. Oneonta refused to give up their lead, winning the game 17-7.
Puciloski reached the board twice in the loss with two goals, while Purtell tallied a hat trick for the Hawks. Morris also reached the back of the net for New Paltz.
Falling to a 0-9 deficit early against Cortland on Saturday, the Hawks finally got on the board with a goal from Massena assisted by Hofer to make it 1-9 in the 10th minute. Another goal for the Red Dragons by fourth-year midfielder Kristyn Drake put Cortland up top 10-1 going into the half.
Cortland continued to score early in the second, as they scored four unanswered goals to make 14-1 with 18 minutes left to play. The Hawks did not give up, as first-year attacker Tara Bovich and Puciloski each found the back of the net to make it 3-14.
After another Red Dragon goal from fourth-year midfielder Megan Gonzalez, New Paltz finished off the game on a high note with two more goals from Bovich, her 23rd of the season, and Hofer’s 18th. The Hawks would drop the decision at the score of 5-15.
“Adapting to each other’s style of playing and tendencies helped us work as a team on the field,” said third-year defender Sarah Raynock. “Cleaning up our stick skills is what’s most important right now.”
New Paltz will look to rebound this weekend when they hit the road against SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, April 7.
“To be successful against Geneseo we need to focus on getting back to playing our game,” Massena said. “I think that if we fix the little things in practice in the next few days, we will see huge positive outcomes on both offense and defense.”