After suffering its first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) loss and ending its six-game win streak Wednesday, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team looks to get back on track as it takes on Buffalo State Saturday to mark the midpoint of the conference season.
"Now that we're in the later half of our season, we've really been focusing on coming out with the three points that we need in order to make playoffs," said Hawks sophomore offensive midfielder Keydy Espinoza. "Taking it every game, by game. We want to make sure we're getting enough points to make it to the end of April." 
Although their most recent game resulted in a 17-14 loss, the Hawks boasted the smallest point differential in history between themselves and Oneonta, a team they have yet to defeat. SUNY New Paltz (7-3 overall, 3-1 SUNYAC) has already surpassed the highest amount of conference wins, and are on track to set a record for highest amount of overall wins in a single season.
The game was highlighted by senior offensive midfielder Rachael Purtell's performance in which she scooped up a career high of six ground balls and scored four goals, matching a career high she set in the previous season. One of these goals knotted the score at 11 for a brief amount of time, igniting hope for a win that led to a narrow loss.
"Our focus for the past couple games has really been focusing on ourselves… and we know that if we play the way we want to play that we can run any team," continued Espinoza. "So that's really been our focus... playing our game and not letting other teams drive us into what they want to do."
Buffalo State (5-4 overall, 1-2 SUNYAC) enters the game off a recent loss to The College at Brockport, 17-8. It was defeated a few days prior by SUNY Oneonta by a similar score margin to that of the Hawks, 16-14. Its lone conference win came after triumphing over Fredonia State, also with an eerily similar score to the one SUNY New Paltz boasted against Fredonia, 23-7 and 24-7, respectively.
The Hawks have not defeated the Bengals since 2001. Buffalo State took home the win last year with a 10-point lead, 15-5, and out-shot SUNY New Paltz 30-22. They were slightly more accurate than the Hawks, making 26 of those shots on goal, while SUNY New Paltz only made 16 shots on goal. The Hawks did boast more ground balls, 20-18, and matched the Bengals for draw controls, both totalling 11.
"We're looking to get a win. We want those three points come the end of this week to put us in a good spot for playoffs," Espinoza said. "We're looking to continue to make program history."
SUNY New Paltz will travel to take on Buffalo State 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.
