New Paltz, NY — Backed by a dominant second quarter stretch, the State University of New York at New Paltz collected its first win of the season Monday after beating visiting St. Joseph's -Long Island, 15-9 on North Turf Field.
 
"It felt really good getting the first win under our belt. It's really going to set the tone for the season," said Hawks junior midfielder Kaitlyn Shaw. "We worked hard during our preseason and with a few cancelations along the way it felt really good to come out here, play hard and have a win."
 
Shaw, fresh off a program first, First-Team All-SUNYAC and All-Region selection last season, picked up where her sophomore year ended, filling up the stat sheet for another standout performance. She totaled seven goals, a career-high, which tied for second most ever in single-game program history, helping seal the win over the Golden Eagles in the fourth with the visitors making the game interesting late after they cut the score difference to four. Shaw, though, came through with a crucial goal with four minutes left to re-build a five-point cushion, which helped close out the win.
 
"She was our player of the game and I think she absolutely has the ability to take over a game," said SUNY New Paltz coach Randy Vite. "I think we had a series of highs and lows throughout the game, and she is always on a next level for a full 60 minutes."
 
The outing was turbulent from the start for the Hawks as they got down early to a short-handed St. Joseph's-LI team, as they looked at a 3-1 deficit early in the first. Freshman midfielder Mia Baldinger helped gain possession off the ensuing draw, fighting for a ground ball before settling her team offensively. Shaw narrowly scored her first of the day on the possession, but her initial drive and rip hit pipe to keep the game at 3-1. Camryn Ryder was there to pick up the ground ball, giving SUNY New Paltz another look at goal, which led to a free position by Lexi Atwater with the freshman finding the corner for the score.
 
 
The Golden Eagles answered two minutes later to create a two-goal advantage once more, but Shaw added her first of the day at the five-minute mark to cut the lead to one entering the second quarter.
 
SUNY New Paltz flipped the game in the second, blanking St. Joseph's-LI defensively while going off for nine unanswered goals with the offense moving smoothly, led by Shaw.
 
However, it was senior midfielder Shannon Brosnan who ignited the hot start, as she snuck in her free position opportunity just 45 seconds into the period following a draw win by Shaw. The Golden Eagles won the ball on the ensuing faceoff, but the Hawks stood strong defensively with Baldinger forcing a turnover on a savvy check within the arc leading to a good-looking feed and finish by Shaw from sophomore attacker Alyssa Indelicato, which gave SUNY New Paltz its first lead of the day.
 
Baldinger and Ryder instigated their team's next goal, doubling near the sideline off the ride to cause the Golden Eagles to cough up the ball. The change of possession eventually led to another goal by Shaw who worked her way through the 8 and fired a shot near pipe for the goal.  
Morgan Atwater pushed the lead to 8-4 with eight minutes to go, earning a free position after driving and forcing a shooting space penalty. The freshman capitalized, driving and firing low for her first collegiate goal. Freshman attacker Julia Longo added on two minutes later on back-to-back goals first unassisted then on a nice feed by Baldinger in front of net for her fourth of the season. Lexi Atwater and Shaw then put away two more to end the period, lifting SUNY New Paltz to a 12-4 lead at the break.
 
"I think our freshmen bring a lot of talent to the field and it definitely showed today," Shaw said. "Mia had a ton of assists. She was great in transition. Julia has such a nice shot and Lexi and Morgan are just amazing off ball, on ball. They really bring so much to the table for us."
 
The Hawks showed some of their youth though at the start of the second half, playing frantic in transition, which led to some unforced errors that gave St. Joseph's-LI extra possessions on the offensive end.
 
The two teams traded goals midway through the quarter before the Golden Eagles added two scores to end the period, one off a free position and another following a throwaway by the Hawks on the other side of the restraining line. St. Joseph's-LI cleared and capitalized with an unassisted drive to cage, cutting the score to 13-7 entering the final 15 minutes.
 
The game got tight with nine minutes left, as the Golden Eagles took advantage of a man-up opportunity following a Hawks green card. They then got within four with just more than five minutes left after a tough call on Shaw who got her stick on a pass in the arc. St. Joseph's-LI capitalized once more on the free position attempt and brought the score down, 13-9.
 
However, with SUNY New Paltz needing a play, Shaw stepped up. SUNY New Paltz settled into its offensive set, worked the shot clock down and placed the ball in Shaw's stick, as she drove through traffic and ripped her sixth of the afternoon and stalled the Golden Eagles momentum.
 
"I don't think I needed to take it upon myself, just more so work the ball more," Shaw said. "I was moving a lot on offense, trying to create motion and trying to set up my teammates for success and I think I was able to do that very well."

Morgan Atwater won the ensuing draw and the Hawks stayed patient again, milking clock. Shaw's attempt went wide and following a turnover, St. Joseph's-LI cleared the ball the other way, but Gabriella Tommaso made a key stop with just more than two minutes remaining to preserve the five-goal lead.
 
SUNY New Paltz's defense anchored down from there not allowing an attempt the rest of the quarter. Alex Coyle helped gain another chance for the Hawks' offense, picking up a ground ball off their ride, which led to a Shaw goal with less than a minute left to seal the win.
 
The Hawks out-shot the Golden Eagles, 35-17 in the game and won 17 of 28 draw controls, while forcing St. Joseph's-LI into 20 turnovers to finish another strong defensive performance. Between its first two games, SUNY New Paltz has forced opponents into 40 turnovers while limiting the opposition to under 10 goals in both matchups.
 
"I thought defensively we still were really strong," Vite said. "We just have to adjust to refs, especially when we're playing a high intensity, high octane defense. The refs last week didn't call anything and this week they definitely called a lot more, so we just have to not get frustrated, adjust our style of play to the refs, but definitely think we still played a very solid game defensively.
 
Along with a game-high seven goals, Shaw led the team with 13 shots, six draw controls and one caused turnover. Lexi Atwater followed with three goals on nine shots with one ground ball and a draw control. Brosnan added two goals, an assist with a ground ball, three caused turnovers and three draw controls. Morgan Atwater finished with a goal, an assist, two ground balls, a caused turnover and four draw controls. Indelicato and Baldinger had three assists apiece, while combining for six ground balls and three caused turnovers with Baldinger adding two draw controls.
 
"I think from the start of the season to now, we're just gaining that chemistry on the offensive end and really fleshing out some kinks," added Vite. "But it was really good to have a couple more looks on the offensive end today.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back on North Turf Field Wednesday, hosting Bard College at 3 p.m.

Post-Game Featuring Kaitlyn Shaw


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