Box Score New Paltz -- The State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team lost a hard-fought match against No. 12 Montclair State University by a score of 4-2 on a rainy Wednesday afternoon.

The Hawks drop to 1-2 on the season while the Red Hawks improve to 2-0.

"We didn't play well in the first half but really picked it up in the second half," SUNY New Paltz coach Shanna Szablinski said. "Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to get the job done."

Montclair State opened the scoring in the sixth minute when senior Kaitlyn Struss scored off a helper from sophomore Kelly Watson. Struss scored her second goal of the game at the 10:35 mark to increase the Red Hawks lead to 2-0.

Junior Amber Haslett increased the Montclair lead to 3-0 in the 18^th minute and sophomore Hannah Bollinger scored off an assist from sophomore Kellie Vizzuso at the 25:40 mark to make it a 4-0 game going into halftime.

The Hawks got on the board in the second half when junior Samantha Ackerman scored her first goal of the season off a deflection from senior goalkeeper Kaitlin Maguire in the 48^th minute.

Freshman Carly Croteau cut the lead in half as she scored at the 58:19 mark off an assist from senior Justine O'Reilly.

SUNY New Paltz created plenty of scoring opportunities, including a penalty stroke from junior Paige Gladstone that narrowly missed, but Maguire held down the defense as she recorded eight saves in the second half (11 in total) to keep it to a 4-2 final.

"We were excited to come into New Paltz and get a win early in the season," Montclair State head coach Eileen O'Reilly said. "New Paltz has always been a very competitive program. I said to my team at halftime that they were not going to stop fighting against us, and that's exactly what happened. They changed their strategy, we didn't adjust properly and that's why the game finished 4-2."

O'Reilly led the team with six shots, while Croteau, senior Hayley Kim and sophomore Kaitlyn Gunter notched two shots each. Ackerman, Gladstone and junior Serena Capsello each recorded one shot.

Senior Megan Gangewere made 10 saves on the day, including sixin the second half to halt the Red Hawks offense.

The Hawks will continue non conference play when they host Stockton University at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9 on the North Turf Field.