Following its first victory of the season over St. Joseph's College Long Island (16-11) on its home turf, the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz women's lacrosse team is eager to get back on the field and earn another win, this time over the opposing Hawks of Hartwick College. 
 
For the past two games, the Hawks have been succeeding in certain areas of play and struggling in others. On the defensive end, SUNY New Paltz has been solid, warding off its opposer and gaining possession of the ball. Yet, offensively the Hawks have struggled to put the ball in the cage. Luckily, it is very early in the season for SUNY New Paltz to improve on the skills that will benefit it moving forward. The competition against Hartwick will give the Hawks another opportunity to refine their skills and surpass their competitor. 
 
"Our game plan going into Hartwick is to just play our style of lacrosse. We have so much depth on our team and we know that as long as we keep the tempo of the ball moving at a fast pace we will be successful against Hartwick" said SUNY New Paltz junior offensive midfielder Keydy Espinoza. "Defensively, we have our matchups set, but it all comes down to playing good man to man defense and making sure we are all ready to help the player next to us."
Working as a unit is a goal the Hawks set for themselves from day one. Espinoza, who leads the team in draw controls (9) along with freshman midfielder Shannon Brosnan, emphasizes that working together to support each player out on the field is a factor that will aid the natural talent that already exists on the team. 
 
As of now, SUNY New Paltz and Hartwick College have the same record (1-1) and historically, the Hawks have defeated Hartwick all but once (in 2017). Last season, the two teams had a very close matchup that progressed into overtime, where SUNY New Paltz ultimately won 9-8. Knowing the history they have with Hartwick, the Hawks came up with a specific game plan going into Saturday's contest. 
 
"The past two games something we have struggled with is finishing our shots. Hartwick's goalie is similar to the last goalie we faced in that they need to be moved first. We've really been focusing on putting in at least one fake before shooting." Espinoza said. "If we take the extra second to freeze the goalie and then place our shot our offense will find a lot of success. With our offensive movement we have so many options to find open players so we need to continue to move the ball fast in order to find the holes in the defense." 
 
The offensive objective SUNY New Paltz has planned for Hartwick prepares the Hawks to be a potential force in competition. SUNY New Paltz is stacked with multiple players who can contribute to the success of the team. Eight different players have contributed in goals, seven in assists, and 12 in caused turnovers. The talent these players bring to the field is clear, but it requires the team coming together for the Hawks to find success. 
 
Hartwick is 1-1 this season, defeating the Knights by a large margin on 15-2 and falling to Bard College 15-10. The Hartwick Hawks have multiple returners who lead the team this season on attack and defense, including junior attacker/midfielder Ginamarie Wilson (6 goals, 3 assists, 5 ground balls), junior midfielder Amy Tracey (2 goals, 5 assists, 4 ground balls) and senior goalkeeper Ashley Jablonowski (11 saves with 7 against). The veteran talent is projected to help Hartwick find success. 
 
SUNY New Paltz will take on Hartwick Saturday at 12 p.m. on the North Turf Field. 
 
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