Box Score New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team put an end to a two-game losing skid Tuesday in commanding fashion, earning a 15-5 victory over Bard College to stay unbeaten at home.

The Hawks (4-2) were without leading scorer Tara Bovich (ankle) for the game, but the offense wasn't too hindered by her absence, as Amy Hofer, Keydy Espinoza, Rachael Purtell and Kayla Massena all stood out with strong offensive performances in the game to lead the team.

"I think they're excited to fill a role that is now missing this last game," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Detelj. "I think they had fun with trying to be creative and figuring out a different way to score."

Taylor Russell got the outing started for the Hawks, scoring the opening goal just less than two minutes in.

The Raptors (2-3) answered with a Casey Witte goal about three minutes later, but the game didn't stay tied for long. Following a win off the draw by SUNY New Paltz, Espinoza quickly capitalized on the other end and solidified a lead that they never relinquished the rest of the way.

Marion Adams cut the deficit in half for Bard with 20 minutes, 44 seconds on the clock, but the Hawks retaliated with three-straight goals by Hofer, Espinoza and Russell to build a cushion.

Witte put an end to the run with about 14 minutes remaining, but SUNY New Paltz tacked on four unanswered goals to end the half. Hofer was the catalyst in the stretch assisting or scoring on the final three goals to help her team build a 10-3 lead at halftime.

The Hawks defense then took over in the second half, clamping down on the other side of the restraining line

"I felt like the game plan going in was to really settle our defense, making sure we're having slides and second, and third slides, and making sure we're bumping," said SUNY New Paltz defender Megan Tornatore. "I think we did that and we held them to no goals and limited shots, and Nicole [Sheintul] did a great job in the back as well."

As a team, the Hawks caused 13 turnovers in the game and did well pushing the tempo when the ball was on the ground. They quickly got the ball down the field and capitalized on fast-break opportunities to help extend their cushion.

"I think it kind of fits the personal we have. We do have some pretty good athletes, so we're looking to push the game anyway we can. We felt that that was the best route against this opponent," Detelj said. "I think the second half we definitely straightened out our communication a little bit more and I think that helped us anticipating a little bit faster and kind of raising a different level than we had in the first half."

Espinoza won the opening draw of the second half and after about a minute and a half possession, Massena netted her third of the day.

Five minutes later, Jahna Beiling caused a turnover for SUNY New Paltz on the defense end, Emily Puciloski scooped up the ground ball and moved it down the field to Rachael Purtell, who capped off the play with a transition goal to push the advantage, 12-3, with about 22 minutes remaining.

"We do hold ourselves to playing smart and a composed defense, but especially when we see an offender where we can take those chances with, we definitely are aggressive and make those turnovers," Tornatore said. "Definitely in transition we've been looking to get into each other's lanes, transitioning well and giving each other options and cutting back to our defenders. We definitely had a strong transition day."

The Hawks held Bard scoreless for nearly 28 minutes going back into the first half before Witte put an end to their run with a Raptors goal at the 18:21 mark of the second half. But, Purtell and Espinoza helped SUNY New Paltz to a 3-0 run to push the game to a running clock after the 10-plus goal advantage.

Hofer led the Hawks with four goals and an assist on eight shots, while adding five ground balls. Espinoza had a terrific all-around game, as the freshman midfielder collected four draw controls, caused a team-high four turnovers, picked up two ground balls to go along with three goals and an assist.

Purtell added three goals, a ground ball, one caused turnover and one draw control win. Massena pitched in with three goals on four shot attempts, while Caitlyn Morris recorded three assists. In goal, Sheintul had another stout performance and finished with 16 saves on 31 shot attempts

The victory was a big boost for SUNY New Paltz, which enters SUNYAC play against No. 15 ranked SUNY Cortland Saturday. The Hawks hope to continue their momentum going into the weekend against the Red Dragons.

"I definitely feel like this game is going to help us with Cortland," said Tornatore. "We practiced our offense, practice all of our defenses and we really fixed the things that we needed to and perfected the things we needed to perfect going into Cortland."

SUNY New Paltz is set to take on SUNY Cortland on the road Saturday at 1 p.m. Be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook for updates, highlights, videos, photos and more.