Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team stayed within striking distance of non-conference Vassar College early on Saturday at Weinburg Field, but the Brewers scored eight unanswered goals to pull away with a 15-5 win in the season opener for both teams.
 
New Paltz went 12-for-23 on clears on the game, which included a 6-for-9 performance in the first half. Vassar finished with a 27-21 advantage in shots, an 18-16 edge in ground balls and a 14-8 margin in draw controls.
 
New Paltz drops to 0-1 overall with the loss and next visits Mount Saint Mary College on Wednesday, March 9, at 7 p.m. Vassar rises to 1-0 with the win and next faces Keene State College (Tuesday, March 15) and Bowdoin College (Thursday, March 17) down in Bradenton, Fla.
 
After sophomore attacker Storm Sideleau scored for Vassar just 20 seconds into the game, junior attacker Melissa Wagner (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) countered 21 seconds later to tie the score at 1-all. Junior attacker Julia Trudell and senior attacker Isabelle Goldstein each found the back of the net for Vassar before junior attacker Nicole Stackpole (North Bellmore, N.Y./W.C. Mepham) scored to draw the Hawks within one with 25:29 to go in the first half. The Brewers closed the half by posting seven unanswered goals, and Vassar also buried the first marker of the second half to pull ahead 11-2.
 
Stackpole broke up the Brewers' scoring surge by netting a goal off of a feed from sophomore attacker Caitlyn Morris (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) 5:36 into the second half. Following three straight Vassar goals, Stackpole once again scored, doing so off a Wagner feed, and after a Brewer goal, Stackpole registered her fourth goal of the afternoon off a Morris pass with 4:07 to go in regulation to spell the final score.
 
Offensively for New Paltz, Stackpole's career-high four goals, Wagner's one goal and one assist and Morris' two assists led the way. Junior defender Nicole Petrullo (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) was busy defensively with five ground balls and three caused turnovers, while junior midfielder Alexa Criollo (Queens, N.Y./Forest Hills) caused four turnovers and scooped up two ground balls.
 
Trudell ignited the Brewer offense with four goals, while senior attacker/midfielder Kim Mulvehill and sophomore attacker Amelia Rivoir netted three markers apiece. Goldstein handed out three assists, while junior midfielder/defender Darby Stahl reinforced the defensive third of the field with four caused turnovers and four ground balls.
 
Junior goalkeeper Colleen Roemer (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) turned aside six saves in her first start as a women's lacrosse student-athlete, while Vassar's two netminders combined for 10 stops.