The State University of New York at New Paltz men's lacrosse team will return to the field hungry for more in its sophomore campaign following an inaugural season that was cut short by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in a season that saw them playing only four games.

The Hawks finished 2-2 last season with highlights that included a 14-4 rout of Elmira and an overtime spectacle at SUNY Purchase to pull away with a hard fought, 9-8 victory in double overtime.
This year, head coach Dwayne Stewart's team will be part of a new division format devised by the SUNYAC Conference. SUNY New Paltz will fall into the East Division, which is separated by the dividing line of Interstate 81 as chosen by SUNYAC. The East will contain SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, and SUNY Potsdam.
 

"I feel really confident with the team and what coach is putting in," said Hawks senior midfielder Greg Gurello. "I feel like the freshmen brought in a good change of pace and are really challenging the people who were on the team last year. A lot of the sophomores are moving up to leadership roles and I'm confident in us, and I think we're going to have a good showing."

The Hawks' season will feature six conference regular season games, and one non-conference matchup against Utica that will kick off their 2021 campaign Friday at home one the South Turf.
The Pioneers visits New Paltz with one game under their belt, earning a 13-6 home-opening victory over Castelton University on Wednesday. Utica dominated the game, out-shooting the opposition 59-31 with junior attacker John Avery leading the way with four goals. Utica ended last season at 1-4, following a 7-9 finish in 2019 where they missed the postseason.

SUNY New Paltz will open up its first SUNYAC action in program history against the visiting Cardinals, who they will take on twice during the season, with the second bout in Plattsburgh April 23. The Hawks will have their work cut out for them as they play against a squad that took home the SUNYAC Championship just four years ago, and despite a matching 2-2 record with the Hawks last season, saw a seven-win season in 2019.
The team will also see two matchups each against the Bears and the Red Dragons starting with two road matchups on April 2 and 9, respectively. The second matchup will have the Hawks with home field advantage with games on April 16 and 30.

SUNY New Paltz will face a Potsdam team that began last year's shortened season on a tear, with an impressive 4-1 opening record before the pandemic cut off all sports. The Hawks also finds themselves in a very similar spot as Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta with the Red Dragon's coach Pete Owens being only in his third season, very much similar to Stewart, as the two young coaches are hoping to vault their teams to the top of the conference.

"It's very exciting," Gurello said. "The SUNYAC is a very competitive division. A lot of the teams in the SUNYAC is in the top-25 in the country, so when you play good teams like that it's good competition and it's very exciting."

The stars of last year's season include sophomore Ryan Scully who led the team in goals (13), assists (5) and points (18),  as well as earning the team's first ever SUNYAC and PrestoSports Offensive Player of the Week after capping off the season with the final goal in the double overtime victory over the Panthers in what was the team's final game of the shortened season. Behind him offensively, was sophomore Thomas Armetta with nine goals and four assists on the year. On the defensive end, senior Joseph Bradbury paced the team with 12 caused turnovers, 22 ground balls, nine faceoff wins, as well as two goals. Nate Lindsey saw action in three of four games last season, making one start. He finished with 30 saves and a save percentage of .625 in just more than 116 minutes of action on 84 shots faced.
"Unfortunately, the season ended short last year, but I love the way we were playing, and the tempo was great," Bradbury said. "I'm excited and so is the rest of the team. We're ready to go, locked and loaded. We're not going to take any team lightly. We're going to play our game and our game only."

In addition to returning all but six players from last year's roster, the Hawks added 12 newcomers, including 11 freshmen for added depth, which will undoubtably play a key role throughout the year.
"I'm really excited personally to get out here with the boys, and I'm really excited for SUNY New Paltz in all sports to get out there and play this season," Bradbury added. "It's going to be a fun year."

SUNY New Paltz opens up its 2021 season Friday at 3 p.m. against Utica College. To follow along with live stats and live stream, click here.

To read more about the SUNYAC Schedule and SUNY New Paltz COVID-19 guidelines, click here.


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