Plattsburgh, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's lacrosse team fell 14-10 to SUNY Plattsburgh in its final game of the season. 
 
"Today's game was a battle of will. Plattsburgh out played us. Hats off to them on their senior day," said Hawks coach Dwayne Stewart.
 
The Cardinals opened up scoring for the game capitalizing on a turnover by SUNY New Paltz on an extra-man opportunity. The Hawks got their bearings just a couple minutes later and scored their first of the day by junior attacker Nate Biblowtiz assisted by Aidan Gregory. The goal gave SUNY New Paltz the momentum to dominate through the quarter scoring two more goals by junior attacker Thomas Armetta and freshman midfielder Anthony Senecal with assists by Senecal and Zachary Leung, and holding Plattsburgh to five shots. 
 
"Our young guys have been doing a great job of accepting, learning, and enhancing our systems and culture. The sky's the limit for these young Hawks," said Stewart.
 
The Cardinals dominated the second quarter scoring with a game high of six goals and tallying 17 shots on SUNY New Paltz sophomore Ryan Steinhart who made five saves. Senecal scored his second of the day in the middle of Plattsburgh's run, but the Hawks couldn't keep forward momentum. Stephan Kane had three goals and an assist to lead the Cardinals scoring that quarter and in the game with a four goal and two assist total. 
 
"The second quarter was tough," Stewart said. "Their best offensive player got hot and that gave life to the rest of their team."
  SUNY New Paltz scored first to start the second half, closing the score gap 7-5 with the Cardinals up. Plattsburgh fought hard to extend its lead again, scoring two more goals back to back. Freshman attacker James Flannagan scored with an assist from Gregory using the last second of a man-up opportunity. Plattsburgh once again extended their lead with another two goals making the score 11-6 at the end of the third quarter. 
 
The Hawks come out with some fire, Senecal scoring just 30 seconds into the final quarter. The goal did not go unanswered as Kane put in his fourth and final of the day about four minutes later. After a caused turnover by sophomore attacker John Reese, Tim Russel found the ground ball and cleared successfully. Armetta made a pass to Flannagan who found the back of the net for his third of the day. The Cardinals put in two more to polish off scoring for the game with five minutes left. The Hawks fought on attack to close the gap but finished the game with another two goals, one by Flanagan and another by Armetta and freshman midfielder Ethan Scully getting on the board with an assist, the final score 14-10. 
 
"This year was extremely fun to coach this group. As a third year program, we did great things and competed hard, which is all I could ask for," Stewart said. "All of the systems are in place and the culture is set. Next year should be another year of competitive gameplay."
 
The Hawks end their season 3-10 overall and 1-6 in the conference, completing their first ever full conference schedule and securing their first ever SUNYAC win in program history.

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