Box Score New Paltz, NY – After getting down by two goals early Tuesday, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team settled in to score five straight goals against visiting SUNY Potsdam, propelling the eventual 10-6 victory to clinch its first conference win of the season.
"It was an important team win with many contributions on both sides of the ball," said Hawks coach
Keith Detelj. "They have been working extremely hard the past couple weeks and their persistence has paid off."
SUNY New Paltz (5-7 overall, 1-5 SUNYAC) went into the game searching for its first SUNYAC victory, losing five-straight conference games. And, although the Hawks retained possession off the opening draw they couldn't capitalize on their early chances.
The Bears (4-9, 1-4) took advantage of the back-to-back saves made by Kayla McCabe (14 saves), and quickly netted their first goal with 24 minutes left in the half. Five minutes later Lane Perl doubled-up SUNY Potsdam's lead with an unassisted goal, but that was all the SUNY New Paltz defense put an end to the run, holding the Bears scoreless for the following 24 minutes of play.
Following a timeout by SUNY Potsdam with about 14 minutes remaining in the half, the Hawks regrouped, got a stop on defense after a save by
Nicole Sheintul (13 saves) and got it down field in the stick of
Tara Bovich, who found a cutting
Ashley Seiter for their first goal of the day.
"I think starting off slow really made us think to work hard during the game," Seiter said. "Our integrity and our determination really came through during the game, which helped us pull the win."
The Hawks stayed patient offensively and worked time off the shot clock. With four seconds left before the horn sounded,
Emily Puciloski earned a timely free position on the left center hash that she put away to tie the game up at two.
It didn't take long for SUNY New Paltz to jump in front. SUNY Potsdam won the ensuing draw and got a shot on Sheintul, who made the save and quickly got it out of her stick. The Hawks moved the ball swiftly to the offensive end and found Bovich for the unassisted transition goal.
Twelve seconds later,
Keydy Espinoza won the ball to herself on the following draw and moved the ball down to
Amy Hofer who earned a free position and netted her 20
th goal of the season.
"I think just being a little more clinical on the opportunities that we had," said Detelj of the 4-0 run to end the half. "We had opportunities, was just about finishing them right away and once that happened a little bit more confidence came to play and they started to pick out some better shooting and some better decision making."
Jennifer O'Leary opened up the scoring for the Hawks in the second half, tucking her shot perfectly in the bottom right corner of the pipe to boost her team's lead, 5-3.
The Bears answered with a goal about three minutes later, but SUNY New Paltz responded with a 4-0 run in the following 15 minutes to establish a six-goal cushion with 8:27 remaining.
SUNY Potsdam made a mini-run of its own and got back within three with 5:22 left, but SUNY New Paltz halted the rally there. Seiter won the ensuing draw and then earned a free position on the far hash. McCabe made the initial save on the attempt, but Seiter – who was called for a goal circle violation on a similar play in the first half – stuck with her shot, made sure she was out of the crease and quick-sticked the deflection in the back of the net to close out the scoring for both teams.
"The last play on the free position, I guess I was frustrated that I didn't get it in and was there and got lucky," Seiter said. "To get our first SUNYAC win it really does feel amazing to have our hard work pay off. We've been working so hard during practice and it was so frustrating that we weren't performing and getting our wins, but now it finally shows."
Seiter led all scorers with four goals – a season high for the junior out of Port Jefferson Station – while adding three ground balls, a caused turnover and a draw control. Bovich followed offensively with a goal and three assists, while Hofer added two goals, two ground balls, a caused turnover and four draw controls. O'Leary also recorded two goals in the game.
Espinoza was the x-factor once again in the draw circle. The freshman won a team-high eight draw controls and helped the Hawks earn possession on 15 of 18 draws, which led SUNY New Paltz to out-shoot SUNY Potsdam, 33-28, in the game.
The Hawks will look to add to their conference record Saturday when they take on Fredonia State in their home finale at 1 p.m. Be sure to follow
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