Box Score New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team made history Wednesday in its game against Plattsburgh State. The Hawks dominated the Cardinals, 20-4, bringing their longest winning streak yet to five games, and an undefeated conference record at 2-0, its most successful in program history.
 
"Going into today's game we were definitely looking for that W; we were definitely looking to come out on top. We have a nice streak going, so we were very confident going into this game," said SUNY New Paltz senior attacker Taylor Russell. "Plattsburgh is a new team, we didn't really know what to expect, but we watched film on them and felt pretty prepared coming out here." 
 
The 2019 season is the first for the Cardinals (1-7 overall, 0-2 conference). They suffered a defeat in their first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game Saturday to reigning conference champions, SUNY Cortland, 21-1, and their defeat Wednesday added a sixth tally to their losing streak.
 
Eight Hawks were responsible for registering goals throughout the game. Sophomore attacker Tara Bovich led SUNY New Paltz with seven goals, nearing her career high of eight that was established in the previous season in a game against Elmira College. She was followed by freshman offensive midfielder Maddy Carullo (3), senior offensive midfielder Rachael Purtell (2), freshman attacker Katie Zito (2), sophomore attacker Amy Hofer (2), junior attacker Emily Puciloski (2) and senior defensive midfielder Ashley Seiter. Freshman defender Vivianna Scotti celebrated her first career goal, which marked the Hawks' 20th point and came in the final 30 seconds of the game.
 
"In the last 30 seconds, I just really wanted to get that goal in. I've never had one, so it definitely felt good to get one in," said Scotti. "I was playing high crease, so you know you cut back and forth, and [Russell] just fed it right to me and it was an open goal... it went right in, very happy with that."
  SUNY New Paltz out-shot Plattsburgh 29-11, an incredible 24 of which were on goal. Most of the game was spent in the Cardinals' net, and Plattsburgh only made six shots on goal, two of which were saved by sophomore goalkeeper Haley Timarky. The Hawks scooped up 17 ground balls compared to the 11 that the Cardinals grabbed. Senior defensive midfielder Sarah Raynock was responsible for causing five of SUNY New Paltz' 21 caused turnovers, and led the Hawks in draw control, securing seven.
 
Plattsburgh were the first to gain control of the ball at the start of the game, but SUNY New Paltz quickly turned the game around and set the tone for the remainder of the match. Purtell scooped a ground ball and ran it down to the Cardinals' net for the first goal of the game. The following goals were made consecutively with little retaliation from Plattsburgh. The Hawks were a daunting force, so intimidating the Cardinals substituted their goalie out after SUNY New Paltz made five goals in the first six minutes. The Hawks made seven more goals before Plattsburgh made a successful play.
 
The Cardinals hit a lucky streak and scored three consecutive goals, puncturing a hole in SUNY New Paltz's defense. The Hawks' were quick to regroup; Raynock drew control off the reset, passed the ball off to Russell and assisted Seiter for the goal that put SUNY New Paltz back on track. The play marked the first of four assists Russell made throughout the game, after making a home for herself in the crease.
 
"Coming into this game we were definitely looking to run the scoreboard up, get that running clock. We pushed transition a lot in the beginning, really had those first looks and had a lot of goals off of them," said Russell. The Hawks led the game 15-3 after halftime. With a comfortable lead, SUNY New Paltz slowed down their attacks and put a focus on plays. While still continuing to build the score, the Hawks put the skills they've been concentrating on in practice into motion, which involved cutting, feeding and allowing their teammates to see more action.
 
Plattsburgh scored their final goal 10 minutes into the period and spent the rest of the game struggling to defend its goal. The Cardinals proved unable to do so, as SUNY New Paltz scored five more goals scattered throughout the second half. The final goal came from Scotti in the last thirteen seconds to bring the Hawks to a clean 20 point finish.
 
The win elevates SUNY New Paltz to a 2-0 conference record, the highest in program history. Doubled with their 5-0 streak, the Hawks are looking at their most successful season yet, which they hope to continue on Saturday against Fredonia.
 
"Into the game on Saturday I think we're going to take this win streak, we're going to ride it into that game with Fredonia," said Scottie "We didn't beat them last year so I think it would be good to show them who we are and that we are up to their level, and that we can beat them and, again, that we definitely can make it to playoffs."
 
SUNY New Paltz will take on Fredonia on the North Turf Saturday at 12 p.m. To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks,Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.