Utica, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz lost on the road to Utica Thursday, 16-12.
 
The game was originally scheduled for Feb. 27 and was postponed to Thursday due to weather. The Hawks out-shot the Pioneers, 37-36 and won the draw control battle, 17-14, but turned the ball over 16 times to just 10 for Utica, while 26 of their shots found the cage with the Pioneers totaling four more shots on goal in the game.
 
The first quarter was tied at one, two and three before Utica took a 4-3 advantage entering the second period. Shannon Brosnan won the opening draw and SUNY New Paltz capitalized with a goal from Kira Tucker, assisted by Maddy Carullo. Utica countered with two goals to take a 6-4 advantage before a turnover midway through the period led to a goal by Camryn Ryder in transition with Brosnan on the assist. Katie Zito then tied the score at six with only a few ticks on the game clock remaining in the half. Maddie Gillis initially was awarded the free position, but Zito picked up the ground ball off the save and netted her first of the day to help the Hawks to a knotted game entering the break.
 
SUNY New Paltz took its first lead since the opening minutes of the game two minutes into the second half following a man-up opportunity on a yellow handed to the Pioneers. Carullo instigated the free position and put the attempt away to push the Hawks ahead, 7-6. Utica tied the game at seven with 11:14 left before Kaitlyn Shaw regained the Hawks' lead at 8-7 following an unassisted goal with eight minutes to play. 
The Pioneers called a timeout two minutes later and the stoppage of play helped the hosts rattle off two straight goals less than a minute apart to go up, 9-8. Shaw tied the game at nine after finishing off a feed from Alyssa Indelicato and Carullo tied the game once more after Utica answered with a score with 1:26 left.

The fourth quarter decided the game and Utica held the advantage. A three-goal run in the first five minutes pushed them ahead 13-10 and SUNY New Paltz never recovered. The Hawks called a timeout to slow down the Pioneers momentum and they eventually found the back of the net three minutes later to end the run. Brosnan won the ensuing draw control, which led to a goal by Carullo, but that was the closest SUNY New Paltz got as the offense was halted there.
 
Utica scored off a failed clear by the Hawks to bring its lead to 14-12 with four minutes left. The Pioneers added on two minutes later off a free position and sealed the game with an insurance goal with 10 seconds left.
 
Carullo, Shaw and Zito each had three goals apiece, while Carullo led the team with five points after adding two assists. Cayci Hill had a team-leading three ground balls and a caused turnover. Hailey Aber played the full 60 minutes in goal for SUNY New Paltz and finished with 14 saves.
 
The Hawks are back in action Saturday when they host Nazareth on the North Turf Field at 12 p.m.

************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.