Throggs Neck, NY — the State University of New York at New Paltz men's lacrosse team fell in its season opening game versus Maritime, 13-4 Wednesday, fighting to the end. 
 
"The season opener showed our weaknesses. Composure on offense and in our riding and clearing game must be enhanced for us to compete against good teams," said Hawks coach Dwayne Stewart. 
 
Maritime sophomore Sean Foley started the scoring early with 13:04 left in the first quarter. The Privateers stayed on attack for the majority of the period and aside from some big shots, including John Reese's attempt just wide with 7:10 left in the first, the quarter ended with Maritime up 3-0. 
 
The Privateers started the second quarter strong, scoring three more goals before junior attacker Thomas Armetta answered with just under five minutes left before the half. Maritime responded shortly after to leave the score at 7-1 before entering halftime. 
 
James Flanagan opened up the second half with a goal for the Hawks, assisted by Rafael Fillyaw about four minutes in. The Privateers capitalized on a man-up opportunity scoring another string of three goals. When SUNY New Paltz gained back a player to make both sides even, Flanagan scored another assisted by Armetta. 
 
"James started slow but [gained] life as the game went on. He is another freshman that will get better as he gains more experience. He will be a pivotal piece to our offense as the season progresses" said Stewart of Flanagan's two goal performance in his first collegiate game.  
The fourth quarter began with Maritime up 10-3. Five minutes in, Foley cashed in his fourth of the day followed shortly by a goal from Derek Walter in another man-up situation. Junior attacker Aidan Gregory closed out the scoring for the Hawks with 6:31 left in the game. The last goal of the game was by the Privateer's Steven Pinto less than a minute later. 
 
Freshman faceoff and midfielder Ethan Scully had a standout performance winning 10 of 19 faceoffs and adding an assist to his stats for the game. 
 
"Ethan Scully was a standout performer," Stewart said. "As he gains more experience and gains more confidence, I'm sure he will excel in this division.
 
Maritime out-shot the Hawks, 49-28 in the game, including 28-15 on goal, but SUNY New Paltz forced the Privateers into 29 turnovers with Armetta and defender Tim Russell leading the team with three caused turnovers apiece. Nate Lindsey was given the loss after making four saves with Ryan Steinhart playing the last 30 minutes and making 11 stops.
 
"Our strengths were our defensive game play," Stewart said. "We played strong defense in our sets but gave up some easy goals in transition. Another strength is our face-off gameplay. Ethan Scully did a great job fighting and winning nearly 50 percent of the draws. We will need to lean on our talent at the draw to really compete against the better teams."
 
The Hawks look to push forward and improve in their coming game this Saturday in their home opener against Manhattenville on the South Turf Field.

"For Saturday's game, and all other games moving forward, we need to keep our composure on offense and clear the ball better," Stewart added. "That will help us stay in games and compete at a higher level."

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