Box Score New Paltz, NY – It was a tight first half of play between the State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team Tuesday and visiting Oswego State. But the Lakers, who went into the half with a two-goal lead, opened up the second half of play with eight-straight goals to pull ahead and take the eventual, 14-5 victory.
"I think we can play better than we have been, but until we start doing that we'll never know what their true potential or if we could break our true potential," said Hawks coach
Keith Detelj. "We'll get back to work and we'll look at the next game being another challenge for us and trying to finish out a full game."
Oswego State (6-4 overall, 2-2 SUNYAC) held the advantage on the draw, 16-5, on the day and opened up with the game's first draw control. SUNY New Paltz (4-6, 0-4) held strong on a long opening possession, but could not capitalize on the opposite end. A quick turnover in the offensive zone for SUNY New Paltz resulted in a transition goal by the Lakers, which ignited a 4-0 run.
Jennifer O'Leary put an end to the surge for the Hawks, taking advantage of a man-up opportunity following a yellow card by Montana Garrett.
Oswego State won the ensuing possession, but strong pressure forced a turnover by the Lakers and
Amy Hofer capitalized with a free position goal on the other end for the Hawks, cutting the deficit in half with just more than 14 minutes to go before the break.
SUNY New Paltz defender
Megan Tornatore was the catalyst on the Hawks' following goal, getting a stick up to cause a deflection on a pass on the defensive end, and after a successful clear off the turnover,
Tara Bovich put away SUNY New Paltz's third-straight goal on a free position attempt to get her team within one with 11 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the half.
The Lakers didn't allow the Hawks to knot up the game, and instead netted back-to-back goals from Brigid Regin and Riley Jaquin to extend their cushion to three.
SUNY New Paltz got within two once more with Bovich tallying her second goal of the game with about a minute remaining. And again, the play started from the defensive end as Tornaore picked up a ground ball off an Oswego State turnover, which Bovich then finished after a successful clear attempt by the Hawks.
However, the Lakers held the majority of possession in the second half, including winning 7-of-9 draw controls to help boost their advantage. They scored two goals in less than two minutes and continued piling on for an 8-0 run.
"Giving the other team more possessions than you, you're not setting yourself up to get a result," Detelj said. "We have the next four games and if we want to be in contention for playoffs we need to take three of them at least."
Although Oswego State was hit with three cards in the second half, the Hawks could not take advantage and was held scoreless until
Caitlyn Morris found the back of the net with six seconds left on the clock.
The Lakers out-shot SUNY New Paltz, 38-21, and were successful on 22-of-23 clear attempts, while the Hawks converted 17-of-22 tries.
Bovich led her team with two goals on five shot attempts, while Morris, Hofer and O'Leary each added a goal.
Jahna Beiling and
Sarah Raynock each totaled two caused turnovers on the defensive end, while
Ashley Seiter (three) and
Keydy Espinoza (two) collected all five draw controls and
Nicole Sheintul made 10 saves in net for SUNY New Paltz.
The Hawks will look to earn their first conference win of the season when they resume play on the road Saturday against Buffalo State (6-5, 2-0) with game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Be sure to follow
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