Pittsford, NY — In an exciting back-and-forth game Saturday, the State University of New York at New Paltz brought home a 5-3 win over hosting St. John Fisher thanks in part to senior forward Natasia Plunkett who finished the game with three goals and an assist to lead her team offensively.
 
Plunkett opened up the scoring, registering her first goal of the season in the third minute after finishing on an assist by senior midfielder Shannon Bernhardt. The Cardinals tied up the game in the second quarter off a stroke that was awarded four minutes into the period. The Hawks pressed though, not wasting time creating opportunities in their offensive end. Following a pair of saves by St. John Fisher goalie Sophia Trozzi on shots by SUNY New Paltz freshman forward Rachel Tama, Julia Cummings ultimately found the back of the cage with her team sustaining the attack in the circle. Amanda Quenneville was credited with the assist on the play to boost the lead back up to one.
 
Plunkett scored again shortly after, knocking in a rebound off Trozzi's pads, but the advantage was soon brought back down to one in the 29th minute by the Cardinal's Emma Cooper.
 
The Hawks held the 3-2 lead at halftime, but the hosts capitalized off a penalty corner to tie the game at three goals apiece. However, with less than a minute remaining in the quarter, Plunkett came up big once again finishing on an assist by Hannah Ackerman to score the go-ahead goal.
 
"Natasia was controlling the forward line and was explosive and dynamic creating chaos in Fisher's defensive 50," said SUNY New Paltz coach Shanna Szablinski. "She made a difference with her ability to create space on her first touch and it caught Fisher's defense on their heels."
 
 
The Hawks defense stood strong with the one goal lead to start the fourth with Davin Testo coming up with back-to-back saves within the first five minutes, but the final 10 were all SUNY New Paltz as it looked for the insurance goal to put the game away. The chance finally came about in the 58th minute after back-to-back corners that led to a penalty stroke with the ball hitting a St. John Fisher player in the cage. Junior back Sam Moran stepped up and buried the opportunity and solidified the 5-3 win.
 
"The game today was back and forth, and we struggled with maintaining composure on fast breaks, and needed to be disciplined by forcing the defense wide versus going for the glory in the open field," Szablinski said. "During the fourth quarter we seemed to do a better job of denying time and space to Fisher's attackers and that allowed us to maintain control."
 
The five goals scored was a season-high for the Hawks with Plunkett setting career highs for herself in goals (3) and points (5). She led the team with five shots as well and was followed by Tama with three and Ackerman, Cummings and Britton who each had two. Testo finished with four saves, while Trozzi ended with 10 for the Cardinals.

SUNY New Paltz held the advantage on shots, 18-9, including 16-7 on target, while garnering a season-high 20 penalty corners — 10 of which came in the fourth quarter alone — while St. John Fisher totaled six, four in the first quarter.
 
"Our attack did an excellent job with getting Fisher out of position and this allowed us to get underneath, creating opportunities inside the circle," Szablinski said.
 
The Hawks, who improve to 3-0 on the season, are back home Wednesday to face Skidmore College for a 4 p.m. game.

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