OSWEGO, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's lacrosse team could not overcome big first and third quarters from Oswego State on Saturday afternoon, falling to the SUNYAC leaders by a score of 18-10. 
 
Gavin Elston and Max Brodman led the Lakers with five and four goals, respectively, while Liam Sexton scored twice in the final 2:21 to cap off the 18-10 victory. The Hawks were led by John Reese's four goals. 
 
"I thought we played 2/3's of good lacrosse today," said SUNY New Paltz coach Dwayne Stewart. "When we didn't stay on task, Oswego's explosive offense took advantage of our lack of execution."
 
That explosive offense from the home side got going early on, putting a lot of pressure on the Hawks defense and capitalizing by out-scoring the visitors 6-2 in the opening 15 minutes. At the 9:06 mark, Brodman put his first goal by Nate Lindsey to allow Oswego State to get on the board 1-0. Just 29 seconds later, Elston connected for not only his 25th goal of the season but his first of four in the opening quarter. 
 
SUNY New Paltz's Ryan Kaelin responded for the Hawks, scoring his third goal of the season with 7:24 remaining in the quarter to cut the home lead to 2-1. Elston countered Kaelin's score with two more, widening the gap to 4-1. After John Reese, SUNY New Paltz's sophomore attacker, scored with 4:32 to go, Elston and Ryan Eccles answered for the Lakers. The two goals gave Oswego State their four-point advantage after one quarter. 
 
The Hawks got things going in the second after Corey O'Connor struck first with 13:30 on the clock to give the home side a 7-2 lead. Playing with a renewed sense of urgency in the quarter to the tune of out-scoring their opposition five goals to two, SUNY New Paltz picked things up.  
James Flanagan scored his 14th goal of the season and Aiden Gregory scored his fourth to trim the home lead to 7-4 with 10:25 to go in the first half as the Hawk offense started to build momentum. SUNY New Paltz continued to answer the call, with Reese scoring his second goal of the contest at the 5:06 mark, getting the Hawks within two, 7-5. 
 
"I thought John Reese did a good job finding the back of the net and giving our offense life," Stewart said of his performance. 
 
Just moments later, Kaelin struck again off a beautiful pass from Thomas Armetta, for his second goal and fourth of the season, making the count 7-6 as things were going SUNY New Paltz's way. Eccles countered with his second goal of his own though to slow the Hawk surge, with 2:56 remaining. Reese added another goal for his first half trifecta as SUNY New Paltz went into the intermission trailing 8-7. 
 
Despite being outshot 30-19 in the opening 30 minutes, the Hawks put away 70% of their shots on goal. They also had seven saves to Oswego State's three. The Lakers' offense was also rolling though, as they scored eight goals on 15 shots on goal. 
 
In the third quarter, momentum started to flow the way of the home team just as it did in the first 15 minutes of the game, and they put some distance between themselves and the visitors. 
 
Elston recorded his fifth goal of the contest just one minute and 29 seconds into the quarter, and Eccles tallied his third of the game a little over three minutes later. Armetta tried to get something going again for his squad, but his shot on target was saved nicely by Oswego State's Aiden Kenyon. The Lakers added to their lead once again when Weston Gray scored with 6:42 to go to make the count 11-7, and Brodman registered to that point his second goal of the game when he got past Lindsey on a nice goal going right to left. With 3:12 remaining in the third, Oswego State had a 12-7 lead with an opportunity to add another late in the quarter, but Gray hit a shot off the post. A two-man advantage on a penalty from SUNY New Paltz, however, allowed Eccles to score once again, his fourth goal, with just three seconds remaining in the quarter on a ball that deflected back into the field of play. In the quarter that shifted things in favor of the Lakers, they had eight shots on goal to just three for the Hawks. 
 
SUNY New Paltz started the final quarter strong, with Reese scoring not just his fourth of the game but his team-leading 27th of the season to make the score 13-8 with 12:56 to go in the game. 
 
Just one minute and 30 seconds later though, O'Connor talled his second goal of the game, pushing the Oswego State lead back to six. Armetta countered right back, with an impressive diving effort for his 14th goal of the season making the count 14-9. 
 
As they did all afternoon long, the Lakers answered, with Brodman scoring his third and fourth goals of the contest to give the home team a 16-9 advantage with 6:16 remaining. His four goals now have him sitting at 12 for the season. Flanagan added his second of the day with 4:19 on the clock to make the count 16-10 before Sexton's two were added for good measure for the 18-10 final.  
 
The Hawks, despite being outshot 59-38, were impressive in that they converted 22 on goal opportunities into 10 scores while Oswego State scored their 18 goals on 35 shots on goal. Lindsey saved 17 shots to Kenyon's 12, but turnovers were a major factor, as SUNY New Paltz had 27 to just 15 for the Lakers. 
 
"We must do a better job of maintaining our composure in tight games, especially against a good team," Stewart concluded. 
 
The loss dropped the Hawks to 2-8 on the season and 0-3 in conference play, while Oswego State improved to a SUNYAC-best 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Next up for SUNY New Paltz is another SUNYAC opponent on Saturday, April 16, as they visit SUNY Potsdam at 1 p.m. 
 
"Potsdam is a solid team," said Stewart of next week's opponent. "They have a good offense and a strong defense. If we stick to the game plan and maintain our composure, it will be a competitive game." 

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