Box Score BRUNSWICK, Maine – After winning 10 straight games and earning the State University of New York Athletic Conference's (SUNYAC) automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament, the State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team (16-5) saw its season come to a close in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday at sixth-ranked Bowdoin College, falling to the host Polar Bears (15-3) by a 6-1 final.
With the win, Bowdoin moves on to the second round, where it faces the No. 18 Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Saturday, Nov. 10, at William Smith College.
New Paltz earned some early chances, as a save by junior goalkeeper
Antonija Pjetri (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) just 31 seconds into the game led to the Hawks making an offensive charge. After New Paltz earned a penalty corner in the fourth minute, junior defender
Alyssa Stock (Morris Plains, N.J./Whippany Park) blasted a shot that went wide of the cage, and Bowdoin thwarted the Hawks' chance to reach the scoreboard first.
From that point forward, though, the Polar Bears seized control of the game. Rachel Kennedy scored unassisted in the ninth minute, and Bowdoin doubled the tally in the 16th minute, with Brooke Phinney scoring off a Kassey Matoin pass. Katie Riley tacked on another goal in the 22nd minute, scoring unassisted, while the Polar Bears made it a 4-0 game just more than one minute later, as Cathleen Smith rattled the back of the cage unassisted. Riley registered her second marker of the contest at 29:07, directing a Smith feed into the back of the goal, but freshman forward
Dani Ackerman (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) wiped away the shutout bid at 32:03, finding the back of the net unassisted.
The Polar Bears, who have won three of the past five NCAA Division III national titles in field hockey, held a significant 11-2 margin in shots in the first half, and they took four penalty corners to the Hawks' one.
Riley completed the hat trick at 49:15, which pushed the score to 6-1. Bowdoin took its foot off the gas from that point forward, as it took just two shots the remainder of the game.
Bowdoin finished the afternoon with a 18-2 advantage in shots and a 6-1 edge in penalty corners.
Pjetri suffered the loss, making nine saves in a full 70 minutes of work. Bowdoin goalkeeper Kayla Lessard earned the win, as she allowed one goal and made no stops.
New Paltz finishes 2012 at 16-5 overall. The Hawks enjoyed their first winning season in program history, and they earned the SUNYAC's regular-season title by going 5-1 in conference action. At the 2012 SUNYAC Field Hockey Tournament, the Hawks defeated SUNY Oneonta, 3-1, in the semifinals before besting SUNY Cortland, 2-1, in the finals after two overtimes and a shootout. That string of results at the SUNYAC Tournament gave New Paltz its first-ever league crown, and it ensured its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
