Box Score Montclair, NJ — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's soccer team went on the road and took on Montclair State University Wednesday night. Although the Hawks did a good job in the pace of play, they struggled cleaning up loose balls in the box and as a result the Red Hawks took advantage, ultimately propelling a 4-0 defeat.
 
"I was very pleased with the overall brand they displayed tonight, the quality of possession and their ability to combine," said SUNY New Paltz coach Mike Eckberg.
 
The Red Hawks (2-0-1) first goal came on a penalty kick in the eighth minute. The Hawks (0-3) had trouble clearing the ball out of their defensive third and Montclair took advantage, playing a deep ball into the box and earning a foul inside the edge of the 18. Emily DeGeyter stepped up and slotted her shot in the left side netting for the opening score.
 
A miss-cleared header atop the box gave the Red Hawks another opportunity inside SUNY New Paltz's zone, leading to Montclair's second goal in the 19th minute. A lofted ball played in by the Red Hawks to the opposite end of the six-yard box was met by Maddy McLelland, who ran onto the cross and one-timed her shot into the net.
 
Montclair's next two goals came early in the second half in the 49^th and 55^th minute, respectively. On both scoring plays the Red Hawks played a ball in front of the net and the Hawks couldn't cleanly clear the ball away from danger. Emily Beenders and Lexington Wolf capitalized, finding the rebound on the separate opportunities to double up on the lead.

"We had a lack of urgency in our box defensively and did not do well with our clearances or defensive marking," Eckberg said. "A team like Montclair will punish us for our mistakes."
 
The Red Hawks held the advantage in shots (24-9) with most of their opportunities coming in the second half. The first half was more even with SUNY New Paltz totaling six to Montclair's nine shots on net. Megan Tornatore and Angela Ratka split time in goal for the Hawks and combined for eight saves on the day.
 
"I thought we had a couple of bright moments in our attack, but our transition into the final third needs to be a priority," Eckberg added.
 
SUNY New Paltz is looking to claim its first win when it resumes play Saturday against Skidmore University. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.