Box Score Brockport, NY — Despite making a strong comeback in the second period, a skill the State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team has proved throughout its record-breaking season, the Hawks were unable to come back from a 10-point deficit created in the first half Tuesday against The College at Brockport and ultimately fell, 17-8, in their first conference playoff game in program history.
 
SUNY New Paltz (8-8 overall, 4-6 SUNYAC) scored six goals during the second period, tripling the points it earned in the first, but it wasn't enough to bring home a win in the first round of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament. 
Although the Golden Eagles (11-4 overall, 6-3 SUNYAC) established a lead early in the game by claiming the first draw control, the Hawks set the tone by immediately retaliating. Haley Timarky proved a formidable force in goal, stopping Brockport's opening shot attempt before sending the ball back up to SUNY New Paltz senior attacker Rachael Purtell, who registered the team's first attempt on cage.
 
"We had a great push in the second half, taking more of a concentration as a team to our execution, but unfortunately it came too late," said Hawks coach Keith Detelj.
 
The tit-for-tat plays lasted for the beginning of the match, as the Golden Eagles were the first to score, but freshman attacker Katie Zito secured SUNY New Paltz's first goal after receiving a feed from freshman offensive midfielder Maddy Carullo.
 
Zito led the Hawks in goals, boasting three. Sophomore attacker Tara Bovich followed Brockport's second goal to tie the score. The Golden Eagles reorganized their offense and started building a lofty lead, scoring eight more goals before the end of the half, a setback SUNY New Paltz was unable to recover from.
 
As they have demonstrated countless times this season, the Hawks made a strong comeback in the second half. Junior offensive midfielder Emily Puciloski charged into the circle to claim the first draw control, a hint that SUNY New Paltz was determined to rebound from a lackluster first half. Brockport stole possession off a caused turnover and scored the first goal of the second period, but a draw control by Purtell off the reset led to another goal by Zito. The duo was back later to score another goal.
 
Sophomore attacker Amy Hofer followed Zito offensively, scoring two goals in the game. She scored her first off a free position and her second in transition off a clear. The final two goals for SUNY New Paltz was also the final two of the game, showing off the improved efforts on both offense and defense. Puciloski slipped the ball into the Golden Eagle's net after senior defensive midfielder Sarah Raynock won a draw control, while junior attacker Jennifer O'Leary put away the final goal for the Hawks after taking advantage of a free position opportunity.
 
SUNY New Paltz fought until the conclusion of the game, but despite scoring one more goal than the Golden Eagles during the second half, the Hawks were unable to make up the 10-point deficit they suffered in the first half and saw their historic 2019 season come to an end.
 
Brockport narrowly out-shot SUNY New Paltz, 29-26. Timarky was active in goal, stopping 10 shots from entering the cage, while collecting one ground ball. O'Leary finished with a team-high three ground balls, while Purtell and Raynock led the Hawks with five draw controls.
 
"We had great performances from our seniors to finish out their careers," Detelj said. "Some unsung heroes [like] Emily, who made plays on both sides of the ball for the entirety of the game and Katie Zito, who had relentless movement on offense finding three goals. Keydy Espinoza on the draw did great tactically getting out to circle with precision to Sarah and Rachael to battle for every ball."
 
Although the game resulted in a loss, the 2019 Hawks boast the most overall and conference wins out of any previous team, surpassing the record held by the 2012 team (7-10 overall, 2-6 SUNYAC), and are the first to claim a playoff bid.
 
"I am very proud of this team. They will always be the first team to do this and they continued to be determined to make a positive change for this program every day until the end of the season and that is special," Detelj said. "I was very lucky to have  many other good people within this program to contribute. Coach [Jenna] Lasaponara's dedication, passion and knowledge has had set a lasting foundation for players to emulate and pass down. Our training staff  kept everyone healthy. And of course the players coming in day in and day out with the belief that we will continue to create firsts for this Hawk family."

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