After losing an incredibly close match in its season opener against Utica College Friday, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team looks forward to flipping the record and securing two wins in a single weekend against Hartwick College Saturday and Stockton University on Monday.
 
"So after our last game we were definitely disappointed with the outcome we wanted to start off the season 1-0," said Hawks sophomore offensive midfielder Keydy Espinoza. "We definitely know that we're a team that can go on runs and we're definitely a team that can put up a lot of goals, so we've just been working on getting back to our fundamentals."
 
SUNY New Paltz came out of its first game of the season narrowly losing to Utica College, 10-9. The game threatened to go into overtime as senior defensive midfielder Ashley Seiter took a shot on the Pioneers goal in the last four minutes, but was ultimately saved by the goalkeeper. Six different players were responsible for goals scored by the Hawks, including a first career goal by freshman attacker Kathleen Zito.
 
Utica College out-shot SUNY New Paltz, 23-22, but the Hawks had more chances on goal, 16-15. The Hawks hope to keep the offensive aggression going into the next two games, as well as maintaining a impenetrable defense. Senior defensive midfielder Sarah Raynock led the team in caused turnovers, racking up three of the team's total 16.
 
The nail biting season opener only ignited the SUNY New Paltz's hunger for a win, which originally set its sights on defeating Manhattanville College Wednesday. The game was postponed until March 16 due to weather, but allowed the team the time to continue practicing and improving. The Hawks have put an emphasis on teamwork, and recognizing that all individual actions affect the team as a whole.
 
"Our games this weekend going into two pretty big games on saturday and monday has definitely been a tough week of practice," said SUNY New Paltz senior attacker Taylor Russell. "We've been working on a lot, working on tempo, feeding, a lot of the small things that we struggled with against Utica, trying to clean that up so that we can come out two wins this saturday and monday."
 
The Hawks enter their first match against the opposing Hawks with confidence from the dominating win they enjoyed in the previous season, 15-9. Sophomore attackers Tara Bovich and Amy Hofer notched six goals each into the back of Hartwick's net, which is the second highest amount in program history.
Hartwick has played two games thus far this season; they defeated SUNY Potsdam, 9-7, a team SUNY New Paltz had no issue conquering in 2018, 10-6. However, Hartwick fell short to St. Joseph's College of Long Island, 11-13.
 
Whereas the Hawks anticipate another win against Hartwick, they look forward to redeeming themselves against Stockton University, who swept SUNY New Paltz last year, 12-5. Despite the loss, the Hawks displayed a strong offense, out-shooting the Ospreys, 30-26, scooping up 15 ground balls and causing 11 turnovers.
 
Stockton will prove challenging as it boasts a perfect record for the 2019 season. They vanquished both competitors, scoring 16-6 against Arcadia University as well as 20-12 against Marymount University, a team they suffered a 7-9 loss to in the previous year. SUNY New Paltz welcome the competition, seeing it as a opportunity to prove how much they have grown as well.
 
"We play Hartwick every year; we came out with a win last year, we're definitely looking to come out with a win again this year. Last year we lost against Stockton; it was a really tough game it was really challenging and it was away so we're definitely looking to come back, get redemption from them and get a win on our home turf," said Russell.
 
The Hawks will travel to Oneonta Saturday to face Hartwick College and will be back for their first home game Monday against Stockton University.

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