SUNY New Paltz Athletics

New Paltz, NY--- The State University of New York at New Paltz women's lacrosse team finally held its home opener Thursday on the North Turf Field, facing SUNY Potsdam to conclude its home-and-home series with the Bears.

The Hawks (2-1 overall, 2-1 SUNYAC) finished with a similar result when facing Potsdam on its home field Monday, winning in convincing fashion, 20-6, to capture the series sweep.

"I think playing a team twice in this close period, you have to kind of adapt a little bit because they know what you just did a couple days ago, so I think they did a good job adapting and changing things up," said SUNY New Paltz coach Keith Detelj. "I think we put the score line where we wanted to and that's a good thing."

In the win, the Hawks surpassed milestones for two of their veteran attackers, as seniors Tara Bovich and Amy Hofer each scored their 100th goal of their collegiate careers Thursday. Hofer now stands fifth most all-time in program history with 108 goals, following a prolific outing against the Bears, while Bovich is sixth all-time with a counting total of 101 goals.

"I am so proud of them," Detelj said. "I think they've worked so hard to get to this point and believing in themselves and just working hard to not only get themselves better but all the people around them as they play. I am super excited for them and I wish them more goals, and more and more for the season."
 

Just one goal away from her 100th, Hofer didn't waste any time finding the back of the net. Thirty seconds into the game Hofer found the ball in her stick, dodged a defender around the crease and put away her first attempt of the day to reach the century mark for her career. The goal was the first of eight for Hofer, who matched a career-high that she had set against Fredonia back in 2018, which also stands tied for second in single-game program history.

"Going into this game I actually did know I was only one away from hitting 100 today so that was kind of exciting," Hofer said. "I really set the standard for myself today to try and break that. For me that was a personal goal to try and break that. I really wanted to make that happen today, especially in a game like this where all my teammates can be a part of it."

The Bears (2-5, 0-4) responded with a goal less than a minute later, but SUNY New Paltz began taking control of the game by owning the possession battle. The hosts won 13-of-21 on the draw Thursday and played most of the game on its offensive end. Bovich, Keydy Espinoza and Hofer responded with a 3-0 run to start cushioning the Hawks' advantage.

Potsdam's Lindsey Ladue ended the run, but Bovich and Hofer scored back-to-back unassisted goals to regain the four-goal lead. Hofer and Bovich both got in the assist column on consecutive plays, finding Katie Zito who scored two-straight to put the Hawks up 8-2 with 20 minutes to play. 
The Bears added another with 19 minutes remaining in the half, but SUNY New Paltz proceeded on a 7-0 run to force a running clock with just more than eight minutes left before the break. Potsdam netted one more prior to the halftime whistle sounding, but the Hawks still took a commanding 15-4 advantage heading into the second period.

SUNY New Paltz allowed just two goals in the final 30 minutes, while adding five more to its advantage to solidify the 20-6 outcome.

Hofer finished with nine points – adding one assist to go along with her eight goals – tying teammate Maddy Carullo and four others for second-most in Hawks single-game history.

Hofer was efficient Thursday, scoring on eight of 12 attempts, while going a perfect 5-for-5 on free position opportunities. The senior also worked hard on the ride, helping the Hawks win the ball back and added one caused turnover, a ground ball and a draw control win to round-out a productive afternoon.

"She is a true competitor in-between the lines, over into the attacking end and even in the draw circle," Detelj said. "She is somebody that completely wants to put her team in the right area to win. If she can do that in between the lines, she'll do it and if she can do that on the attacking end she'll do it and if she can do it on the circle, she'll do it. Anything that puts our team in the best chance of winning, she's there."

Zito followed offensively with four goals with Carullo and Bovich each adding two goals and an assist. Sophomore Maddie Gillis also had a solid day, finishing with two goals on three shot attempts, while adding two ground balls, two draw controls and a tying for a team-most three caused turnovers with freshman defender Kate St. Lucia also adding three caused turnovers in the game. Espinoza and Kaitlyn Shaw dominated in the circle, pacing the team with eight and five draw control wins, respectively.

"Regardless whether we had won or lost against Potsdam I think our goal was to make it a team effort, keep the ball on offense and work it as much as we can, and give each other the best opportunities that we can to put some goals in the back of the net," Hofer said.

Haley Timarky earned the start in goal and registered the win, while senior Lizz Braun and Hailey Aber came in for roughly 20 minutes apiece. All three goalies made two saves against the Bears.

The Hawks are back on the road Saturday in an anticipated matchup with SUNY Oneonta. The two teams were scheduled to meet in SUNY New Paltz original home opener March 31, but the game was postponed.

"I think Oneonta has always been a battle for us. Waiting for this opportunity to play them again and they've been focused in every game coming in and I don't see them changing that," Detelj said. "They are very, very driven to keep putting out a great standard of lacrosse that looks fun and they love to play, so we're looking to give them a run."

The Hawks will look to capture their first win over the Red Dragons Saturday. The opening draw is scheduled for 1 p.m.




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