Galloway, NJ — The State University of New York at New Paltz went on the road to face Stockton University Saturday and played a tight game against the hosting Ospreys, but a five-goal run in the third quarter opened up the contest and allowed Stockton to earn a 15-10 victory.
 
"Overall, I think we looked really good offensively in the first half. Having 10 goals and nine assists is awesome," said Hawks coach Randy Vite. "It was terrible weather and it was great getting experience playing in conditions that were not ideal."
 
SUNY New Paltz (2-2 overall) took its first lead of the game late in the first quarter after Katie Zito scored back-to-back goals off assists from Maddie Gillis with four minutes to go in the period. The Ospreys tied the score with less than a minute left at two goals piece.
 
The scoring started early in a prolific second quarter where the two teams totaled 11 goals combined in the 15 minutes. Off the opening second quarter draw, Stockton regained the lead and doubled its advantage less than 60 seconds later, but Shannon Brosnan won the ensuing draw for the Hawks and Zito netted her third of the day off an assist from Alyssa Indelicato.
 
Gillis picked up the draw for SUNY New Paltz, but a turnover gave the ball back to the Ospreys who cleared to their offensive restraining line and took advantage of the possession with a goal by Margot Costello.
 
Vite called a timeout with about nine minutes to go in the half and her team immediately responded with a score, as Kaitlyn Shaw found Brosnan for her first of the game. Brosnan picked up the ensuing draw and SUNY New Paltz capitalized with a goal by Kira Tucker on an assist by Viviana Scotti to knot the score at five goals apiece. 
Stockton won possession on the next two draws and scored consecutive goals just 30 seconds apart to re-up its advantage to two before Shaw trimmed the deficit with 2:42 to play. Another turnover off a failed clear allowed the Ospreys to gain another two-goal advantage, but Zito buried her fourth of the day with 10 seconds left to bring the difference to 8-7 at halftime.
 
With the poor conditions, the Hawks struggled keeping the ball in their stick and in turn totaled a season-high in turnovers, allowing Stockton to capitalize in the third quarter.
 
"In the third quarter we had some breakdowns defensively with our organization and communication. We also struggled to adjust." Vite said. "On the offensive end in the second half we made poor decisions and stick work became a challenge. I don't even think it was valuing the ball that was our problem, we just weren't throwing and catching effectively."
 
Camryn Ryder won third-quarter draw, which led immediately to a free position opportunity for Indelicato. Although her attempt went wide, the Hawks maintained the ball and extended their offensive possession, which led to Zito's fifth of the afternoon off a feed by Brosnan to tie the score one last time at 8-8. However, the Ospreys took over from then on, controlling the last 14 minutes of the third quarter as they rattled off four goals in the next four minutes, before capping off their 5-0 run with another score with 1:23 left in the period.
 
Gillis ended the run at the start of the fourth quarter with her first goal of the season, but SUNY New Paltz couldn't overcome the deficit. The Hawks were shutout until Brosnan's final goal with 30 seconds remaining to finalize the 15-10 outcome.  
 
Zito was the offensive catalyst, scoring on all five of her shots attempted to lead the way with five goals to go along with two ground balls and a caused turnover. Brosnan followed with an impressive day where she totaled two goals, two assists, two ground balls and a team-leading nine draw controls. Gillis, in her first game of the season, registered a goal and three assists and was second behind Brosnan with five draw controls.
 
Despite the loss, SUNY New Paltz had its most efficient offensive performance of the season scoring at a 67 percent clip — a season-high — while also totaling nine assists, also a season-high.
 
"It is really fun seeing this team improve," Vite said. "They take direction really well and I'm excited for spring break this week to make some further adjustments and continue to grow together as a team."
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action March 19 when it hosts Nazareth on North Turf Field for a 12 p.m. matchup.

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