Box Score

OSWEGO, N.Y. – A pair of first-half goals helped the State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team earn a 2-1 victory in its final State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game of the season over SUNY Oswego. With the win, the Hawks locked up the No. 3 seed in the 2013 SUNYAC Field Hockey Tournament.

SUNY Cortland will serve as host to the SUNYAC Tournament from Friday-Saturday, Nov. 8-9, as the top seed. New Paltz will face off with third-seeded SUNY Geneseo in the semifinal round on Friday, Nov. 8, at 1:30 p.m. The Hawks are the defending SUNYAC champions.

When it was all said and done, both teams played close statistically the whole game. New Paltz finished with a 14-9 edge in shots and a 13-7 advantage in penalty corners, but its penalty-corner margin was buoyed by 10 penalty-corner attempts in the second half.

New Paltz advances to 10-7 overall and 4-2 in the SUNYAC. The Hawks faces cross-river rival Vassar College on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Oswego drops to 5-8 overall and 1-4 in the SUNYAC. The Lakers contest SUNY Oneonta tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. in a make-up game from Friday.

Sophomore forward Dani Ackerman (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead early, rattling the back of the cage unassisted at 3:16. Ackerman struck again at 25:40, directing a feed from freshman forward/midfielder Kayla McKeveny (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) into the back of the goal. That 2-0 advantage held up through the rest of the first half.

Sophomore forward Lisa O'Callaghan put Oswego on the board at 46:47, burying a score off a rebound. The Lakers nearly tied the game in the waning minutes of regulation, as freshman midfielder Jackie Lowenstein ripped a shot on goal. Sophomore defender Sarah Sansone (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) came up with a crucial defensive save, though, and Oswego was unable to generate another offensive opportunity.

Senior goalkeeper Antonija Pjetri (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) earned the win, making four saves, while sophomore goalkeepers Priscilla Paulose and Grace Lombardi tended the Laker goal in each half, respectively. Paulose made four saves and allowed two goals, while Lombardi did not face any shots on target.