NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – A promising game on Tuesday against a Montclair State University team on the fringe of earning a national ranking, propels the State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team into its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener against Buffalo State on Saturday at 1 p.m. with cause for optimism.
RECORDS: New Paltz enters the contest with a 3-1 record… Buffalo State is 5-2... The game will be held at Coyer Field.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (3-1): The Hawks broke out to a 5-1 lead over Montclair State on Tuesday night, but the Red Hawks scored the final three goals of the first half in a 3:45 span to take an 11-8 lead at intermission… Montclair scored the first four goals to start the second half en route to a 19-11 victory… Hawk junior midfielder
Carissa Citro and junior attack
Kelsey Healy each had four goals… Junior goalie
Jackie Ulanoff made 12 saves.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Senior
Talia Tesler leads the team with 14 goals (3.50 per game), which is third best in the SUNYAC… Citro and junior midfielder
Lianne Valdivia each have 13 goals (3.25), which rank sixth and seventh in the conference… Citro's 13 goals and nine assists (5.50 points per game), is second best in the SUNYAC… Tesler (4.0) and Valdivia (3.75) are 6th and 8th respectively… Citro also ranks third in the conference with 2.25 assists per game… With 36 shots, Telser ranks first in the SUNYAC (9.0 per game) and Citro is right behind with 35 shots (8.75)… Off to a stellar start, Citro leads the conference in ground balls per game (4.75)… In goal, Ulanoff averages 8.50 saves per game, third best in the SUNYAC.
TEAM STATISTICS: Offensively, New Paltz ranks first in the SUNYAC in shots per game (33.25), second in shots on goal per game (25.75) and first in women-down goals per game (.50)… New Paltz ranks fifth in the conference in goals per game averaging 13.25 and sixth in assists per game with 5.0… Defensively, the Hawks rank first in ground balls per game, averaging 28.50 and fourth in caused turnovers per game (10.25).
SCOUTING THE BENGALS (5-2): Buffalo State is riding a four-game winning streak, having defeated Oglethorpe 21-4 on March 25 in Atlanta, GA… As part of a southern trip, Buffalo State defeated Birmingham-Southern 19-7 on March 24… Previous victories in the streak came over Elmira (11-7) and Houghton (17-3)… Buffalo State opened the season with a 17-11 victory over Hartwick, a team New Paltz defeated 14-13.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Three players have double figures in goals, led by senior attack Becca Martinez with 23 goals and 10 assists… Senior midfielder Niki Paulhardt follows with 13 goals and junior attack Kendra Thomas adds 11 goals... Martinez ranks third in the SUNYAC in points per game (4.71) and fifth in goals per game (3.29)… In goal, junior Colleen George is 4-0 with a 7.20 goals against average… Buffalo State has employed three goalies this season.
TEAM STATISTICS: Buffalo State ranks fourth in goals (13.29), third in assists (7.43), third in points per game (20.71) and third in ground balls per game (24.14).
LAST MEETING: New Paltz lost to Buffalo State 13-5 on March 30, 2013 at New Paltz… A game recap is linked below.
MARCH 30, 2013: Game Recap vs. Buffalo State WHAT'S NEXT: New Paltz will play its home opener against SUNY Potsdam on April 1 at 3 p.m… Buffalo State travels to The College at Brockport for a 4 p.m. game on April 1.
COACHES: New Paltz is led by head coach
Liz Student, in her third season…. Kelsey Schwan is the interim head coach at Buffalo State this season.
