Box Score

CONWAY, Ark. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team led at halftime and rallied late, but the Hawks were unable to score the equalizer down the stretch in a 12-11 loss to Hendrix College on Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Warrior Field.
 
After a goal by freshman midfielder Rachael Purtell (Minetto, N.Y./Oswego) pulled the Hawks within one at 11-10 with 7:07 left in regulation, a Hendrix marker that came just 18 seconds later was called back due to an illegal stick. New Paltz took advantage of the situation, as junior midfielder Alexa Criollo (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) tied the score at 11-all off a free-position attempt. Just two minutes later, sophomore midfielder Reilly Frazier put the Warriors on top, 12-11, by scoring off a pass from junior midfielder Meghan Ayers.
 
Both teams battled back and forth in the final four minutes of the game. Sophomore attacker Kelsey Aeberli (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) nearly scored with just under two minutes remaining, but Hendrix's freshman goalkeeper Alexis Truitt turned her shot aside to preserve the one-goal lead. Hendrix prevented New Paltz from gaining any scoring opportunities from that point forward to escape with the win.
 
New Paltz drops to 2-4 overall with the loss and closes out its Spring Break trip on Thursday, March 24, with a 4 p.m. (CDT) contest at Rhodes College. Hendrix rises to 5-4 with the win and hosts Oklahoma Baptist University tomorrow at 6 p.m. (CDT).
 
The Hawks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off goals from Purtell and sophomore attacker Allie Imperati (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes), and following a span of 10 minutes without scoring, Hendrix got on the board. Junior midfielder Nicole Gottschalk (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) opened up a 3-1 New Paltz lead before sophomore attacker Bridget Umble scored twice for the Warriors to knot the tally at 3-all. The Hawks scored three of the next four goals, receiving two scores from junior attacker Nicole Stackpole (North Bellmore, N.Y./W.C. Mepham) and one from Gottschalk to take a 6-4 advantage. Hendrix scored with just under two minutes remaining in the first half to provide the halftime score of 6-5 in favor of New Paltz.
 
Hendrix started the second half by scoring four unanswered goals to take its first lead of the contest at 9-6, but Gottschalk broke up the surge with an unassisted score with 21:01 left on the clock. The two teams traded goals until Purtell's late marker started the intense sequence of events to end the game.
 
New Paltz finished with a 23-19 edge in shots, but Hendrix held the upper hand in draw controls, 15-10. The Warriors went 13-for-15 in transition, while the Hawks went 13-for-21.
 
Gottschalk led the New Paltz attack with four goals, while Purtell, Stackpole and Criollo netted two goals apiece. Imperati also scored for the Hawks. Purtell stuffed the stat sheet with five ground balls, three caused turnovers and two draw controls.
 
For Hendrix, Umble led the way with five goals, while Frazier added three. Freshman attacker Morgan Dasch was credited with two assists and also added four ground balls to her stat line. Junior midfielder Raychl Reger provided a strong performance, too, with four draw controls and three caused turnovers.
 
Junior goalkeeper Colleen Roemer (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) made four saves in goal for the Hawks in the loss, while Truitt made eight stops in the win for the Warriors.