Galloway, NJ — The State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz women's lacrosse team fell to Stockton University 16-9 in a tough Tuesday night match-up. 
 
Despite the final score, the Hawks started the game off strong. Sophomore offensive midfielder Maddy Carullo gained possession on the first draw control which in turn led sophomore attacker Katie Zito to her first of three goals, all within the first minute of play. It wasn't long after the first goal that Stockton answered, as freshman attacker Holly Yannacone found the back of the net. 
 
The two teams held goal-for-goal plays until just more than 15 minutes into the game, when the Ospreys began to break away. During the first half, Stockton recorded six goals, with three scored by sophomore attacker Casey Shultz, a returner who was one of the leading scorers for the Ospreys during the 2019 season (28 goals). SUNY New Paltz gave a hard fight in the first half, only trailing Stockton by three at the end, but the Ospreys' initial lead was too much to overcome for the Hawks. 
 
Defensively, SUNY New Paltz saw an aggressive and quick Ospreys attack. Freshman goalie Julia Culhane started in her first collegiate game Tuesday and saw all 60 minutes. Against Stockton, Culhane faced 37 shots and saved 12 (.429 save percentage). 
 
"Julia has been training hard and she got an opportunity to show that today, due to Haley not being able to play," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Detelj. "It shows that she stayed focused in her training and translated into her playing very well keeping us in the game." 
  Culhane's improvement during practice proved crucial in keeping the Hawks in play against the Ospreys. Unfortunately for SUNY New Paltz, Stockton out-shot the Hawks 37-17 and caused seven more total turnovers. Despite those numbers though, SUNY New Paltz saw strength in draw controls, earning 14 compared to Stockton's 12, cleared the ball successfully 16 out of 17 times, and matched the Osprey's total ground balls with 25. 

From the beginning of the season, SUNY New Paltz set goals such as working together to posses the ball and to support each other in order to produce goals. Although there was signs of strong possession throughout the game, the overall goals were not executed as well as they have been during previous play. The Hawks hope to take the tough competition against Stockton as a learning experience. 

"I thought it was a winnable game and we didn't execute right at key points," Detelj said. "This is a learning lesson, to be disciplined and focus in important parts of the game. So we are looking for a little more composure in these crucial parts of the game." 
 
SUNY New Paltz will practice once more before taking the field again Thursday against Farmingdale State at 1 p.m.
 
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