For the first time in program history, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team has all but cinched a spot in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) playoffs, a feat the team aspired to conquer at the beginning of the season. With only two games left before playoffs, the team hopes to improve its standings through a win against The College of Brockport Saturday.
"Its extremely exciting because we've never made playoffs before as a program," said Hawks sophomore midfielder Ashley Bartolone. "We know that we're making history, so we're sticking to our fundamentals and just building upon that, just working every day at practice, no days off." 
After losing its last two matches, SUNY New Paltz looks to flip the script and get back on its winning streak. Its loss to SUNY Cortland demoted its fourth place standing to fifth, tying them with Oswego State, whose loss to Buffalo State elevated the chances of SUNY New Paltz's playoff bid.
Despite the 21-6 loss Wednesday to the 20-time reigning SUNYAC champions SUNY Cortland, the Hawks (8-5 overall, 4-3 SUNYAC) showed an improvement in their possession on the offensive line, making 20 shots, 11 of which were on goal. Sophomore attacker Amy Hofer and freshman offensive midfielder Maddy Carullo registered two goals apiece, while senior defensive midfielder Ashley Seiter and junior offensive midfielder Emily Puciloski each contributed one. The defense put up a strong fight, especially in the second half. Senior defensive midfielder Sarah Raynock racked up five draw controls of SUNY New Paltz's total 10.
"Last game against Cortland didn't really go ideally, but we're using it as a learning experience and really just perfecting our mistakes and try to move on and get better everyday," said Hawks junior defensive midfielder Jahna Beiling.
The College at Brockport (11-2 overall, 6-1 SUNYAC) enters the match currently seeded third in the SUNYAC. Their only conference loss came from their most recent game against SUNY Geneseo, 13-11. The Hawks also suffered a loss to SUNY Geneseo, but by a larger margin, 19-7.
SUNY New Paltz has yet to win a game against the Golden Eagles, but are looking forward to changing history for another time this season. They lost to The College at Brockport 19-8 in the 2018 season, a margin of loss that has slowly decreased compared to the 2016 and 2017 seasons, where the Hawks lost 23-2 and 20-2, respectively.
"Our next game against Brockport [is] going to be a battle; it's going to be tough like Cortland, but we're just trying to move on, do our best, and stick to what we've been practicing, go back to our fundamentals, and I think it'll come out with a good outcome," said Beiling.
"We're looking to stick with them and stick with ourselves as a team and have each other's backs. We know it's going to be a tough game, but we're expecting to push further and do even better than we did last time," added Bartolone.
SUNY New Paltz will travel to take on the Golden Eagles Saturday at 1 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.
