Box Score  New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team controlled the second half of play Saturday against visiting Hartwick College (0-1), which propelled a15-9 win in its home-opener to stay perfect on the season.

"I'm very proud in the way they worked the whole entire game," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Detelj. "They stuck with our game plan and did a very good job of adapting to what Hartwick was doing and found a way to establish some kind of rhythm to their own game."

SUNY New Paltz (2-0) had last year's overtime loss against Hartwick College in the back of its mind heading into the match up and it added some extra fuel going into its first home game of the season. The hosting Hawks won the opening draw and held possession for about two minutes and got a couple good looks on goal. Hartwick College's goalie Jennifer Paszko made a pair of saves to start the game and then the visiting Hawks quickly capitalized on the other end with 28 minutes, 5 seconds left in the half.

However, SUNY New Paltz started settling in offensively following the opening goal. Amy Hofer knotted the score at one two minutes after Hartwick College's goal, putting away a pass from Tara Bovich.  

Hofer then gave SUNY New Paltz its first lead of the game following back-to-back goals with 22:47 left. SUNY New Paltz never relinquished control from there, but Hartwick College managed to tie the score three times before the halftime whistle, including after Hailey Pooler's free position goal with 1:26 left, which kept the game tied at six at the break.

After going over some details and slight adjustments at the half, SUNY New Paltz took over in the following 30 minutes and didn't waste any time gaining back the lead. Right off the opening draw, Rachael Purtell won possession for SUNY New Paltz and got the ball down to Bovich, taking just 17 seconds off the clock before pushing the score, 7-6.

"In the second half what I think helped us pull away was just coming together at halftime and getting together what we needed to fix and fixing what we had to do," Hofer said. "Talking about our defense, fixing our defense and then especially on offense, working on our plays better than we were and not being so nervous like we were in the first half."

Hartwick College tied the score one last time with 17:13 left, but SUNY New Paltz answered with a 6-0 run in the following eight minutes.

Keydy Espinoza started the surge for the hosting Hawks, with Bovich picking up the assist on the play. SUNY New Paltz picked up possession on the next seven draws and its offense did a good job of running through its sets and finding openings in Hartwick College's defense.

Bovich and Hofer led the charge to help establish the six-goal cushion, but SUNY New Paltz's entire attack did excellent on the ride to help create more chances on the offensive end.

"I think our ride really helped," Hofer said. "We had two of our fastest players on ball and we had everybody shift out wide and I think that is what really helped. We were able to kill the shot clock for the other team when they were transitioning into the offensive zone."

Hartwick College completed just 4-of-12 clear attempts in the second half and 10-of-21 for the game, while also turning the ball over 17 times in the last 30 minutes, and 27 times on the day.

"I think it's something we have to do a very good job of with our ride," Detelj said. "Time ticking off the possession click for them, so they would have to rush into their offense or rush into their shots. So, I think it is something that is going to be a part of who we are and what we do."

Hartwick cut the lead down to five with about five minutes left, but SUNY New Paltz patiently worked the ball around to milk some time off the game clock. Miranda Rhodes added another insurance goal with 1:13 left and the defense stood firm from there to help SUNY New Paltz stay perfect on the year. 

"I think we were just paying attention a little bit more to the little things. Like we were making sure we were clearing right to stick, and taking that extra time to make our movement right," Detelj said. "I think they were just executing what we wanted to do a bit more than what we were doing in the first half."

Bovich and Hofer led the way for SUNY New Paltz offensively, scoring six goals apiece, while Bovich also added two assists. Rhodes, Espinoza and Morris each added a goal, while Purtell registered an assist on the day. Nicole Sheintul got the start in goal for the hosting Hawks and recorded four saves in the win.

"Going 2-0 right now for our [season] it's a really good feeling, especially since we lost to this team last year in overtime," Hofer said. "It feels good to come back and beat them by the amount of goals that we did."

SUNY New Paltz is back in action Tuesday when it travels to Farmingdale State College for a 4 p.m. game. Be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook for updates, highlights, videos, photos and more.