New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz secured its second-straight win on North Turf Field Saturday after defeating visiting Hartwick, 14-8.
 
The hosting Hawks (2-1 overall) faced an early deficit at 3-2 following the first quarter, but took over in the last 45 minutes of action. They held possession of the ball and allowed just five goals in the last three quarters, while they started finding a rhythm offensively, feeding cutters inside to earn the comfortable six goal win.
 
"It feels really good to get two straight wins on our home turf," said SUNY New Paltz junior midfielder Camryn Ryder. "Last year we kept going up and kept getting better and better, and already starting this year with two straight wins already shows that we're going to be ready good throughout the season."
 
Hartwick (0-1) scored first with 9:02 left in the first quarter, as Claudia Pollaro rolled a double team and finished with her left to push the visitors up early. Katie Zito answered with her first of five goals on the day following a yellow card by Hartwick. Kaitlyn Shaw helped extend the offensive possession with a ground ball on her initial shot attempt, which led to a nice feed by Megan Kerr to Zito cutting through from the top of fan.
 
The visiting Hawks answered with back-to-back unassisted goals after winning both draw controls just 40 seconds apart to take the 3-1 lead with six minutes left in the period but following a timeout the hosting Hawks regrouped with Ryder winning the ensuing draw. After establishing possession on the offensive end, Shannon Brosnan drew an extra defender then fed Shaw underneath the double with Shaw catching, driving and scoring top left pipe for the goal to cut the score to 3-2 at the end of the first.
 
 
"I think we just came out a little shaky and we were little nervous, had some jitters, so I just wanted to call timeout, re-set and instill some confidence. I need them to value the ball and get quality looks at cage," said SUNY New Paltz coach Randy Vite. "I think it's nice that we can come back. We don't hang our heads and even if we're down a couple, we can still be composed and confident, and know it's a long game."
 
SUNY New Paltz carried the momentum into the second quarter and didn't allow Hartwick any consecutive scores for the remainder of the game, while a three-goal run to start the second allowed the hosts to jump ahead 5-3. Maddy Carullo started the run, picking off a pass from Hartwick goalie Samantha Miller on a clear attempt and then scoring on the quick transition goal. Zito then capped the stretch with back-to-back scores on assists from Kerr and Carullo. 
Hartwick sliced the difference to one 17 seconds before the halftime whistle, as Katrina Marten scored on a free position attempt to get the score to 6-5 at the break.
 
Shaw quickly re-upped SUNY New Paltz's cushion on the Hawks' first offensive stanza. Drawing shooting space and earning a free position attempt on the far hash, Shaw drove in and placed her shot opposite shoulder of Miller to push the lead to two. SUNY New Paltz quickly added on, as Shaw picked up the ensuing draw control and cleared the ball down field with Brosnan feeding Ryder cutting through in transition to score her first of two goals on the day.
 
Hartwick answered at the 9:30 mark of the quarter on a free position goal, but less than a minute later Ryder again made a nice cut to the cage with Alyssa Indelicato this time on the assist as she buried her second-straight to push the lead to 9-6.
 
"What I've also tried to work on is recognizing faster when I'm open, because normally I take just a second too late to recognize it and I've been working on just being more alert and urgent of what's going on around me," Ryder said. "I saw the opening and went for it and got it. The second time, running down I was like, 'let's see if this works,' and I got it [again]."
 
The visiting Hawks scored one more in the period, but Shaw put away two more before the end of the quarter to establish a solid 11-7 advantage for SUNY New Paltz as it entered the final 15 minutes of action.
 
Carullo created a five-point advantage with her second goal of the game with about 10 minutes to go, but good pressure by the hosting Hawks forced Hartwick into turnovers that allowed SUNY New Paltz to extend possessions on its offensive half to eat time away and take advantage of the five-goal difference.
 
"They were going in and out of a couple different defenses," Vite said. "They were in a zone at one point, in man at one point and I think we did a better job of recognizing of what defense they were in and what we needed to do to be successful. Whether that was taking a drive when they were in man or seeing our middle post when they were in a zone."

Hartwick got within four with another free position attempt but following another yellow for Hartwick, Zito scored off an assist by Indelicato to re-up the advantage before scoring once more on a fast-break goal following a save by Hailey Aber on one end with Carullo feeding Zito on the other for the score.
 

GOAALL!!
After Hartwick scores Shaw answers with her 4th of the game! @newpaltzlax up 10-7 4:47 left 3Q #NPHawks #NPWLAX pic.twitter.com/inrpfIPIxa

— New Paltz Hawks (@nphawks) March 5, 2022

 
Shaw and Zito each led the way offensively with five goals. Shaw also had a team-high four ground balls with one caused turnover. Carullo followed with two goals and two assists in the win, while adding a team-high three caused turnovers. Aber finished with a season-high 10 saves in the win.
 
"It's just fun to win games and I think it's even more fun to play well," Vite said. "So, seeing the team get better game-to-game and working well together, finding success, having better possessions and I think we played really strong defensively too today. I think we came up with a couple really good caused turnovers, took some charges — that gets me amped up — so I think it's been really excited to see them get better game-to-game and come out with a couple wins."
 
Ryder was all over the field. She corralled five draw controls, while adding two goals, three ground balls and two caused turnovers to her stat line. Ryder currently leads the team with 17 draw controls, while posting a season-high ground balls to help her team win the margin 16-8 over Hartwick, which aided in the victory Saturday.
 
"My game plan is just trying to get in the air and try to go for it," Ryder said of her strategy on the draw. "Something that I've been working on is to be more aggressive when it's in the air, trying to snag it faster rather than waiting for it to get into my stick. I can already see the changes, just getting better after making that [adjustment].
 
"For ground balls as a team during practice we been [preaching] to just finish the play," she continued. "If the ball is still down the play still isn't over even if the ball is just a little bit farther away, and I think keeping that up during practice has really helped us during games because as soon as the ball is down, we're all going for it. Personally, I like holding that idea of the play isn't over until the whistle blows and just keep going."
 
The Hawks have a full week of practice before heading to Galloway, NJ to take on Stockton University for their first road game of the season. Opening draw is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Post-Game Interview with Camryn Ryder


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