New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's lacrosse team took on Mt. Saint Mary College Wednesday for the Green Out for Mental Health Game on the South Turf Field Wednesday. It was the Hawks' first victory of the season, and coach Dylan Neisler's first official win as head coach for the SUNY New Paltz Program. 
 
"It's great to have a first win under our belts and obviously we have a new coach this season, you know all the boys are just pumped for the rest of the season and what's to come." said Hawks senior midfielder Aiden Jones after the Hawks walked away with a comfortable win with a score of 11-8. 
 
SUNY New Paltz came out strong, winning the first faceoff of the game by Matt Brignati and carrying consistent possession from the line, going for an impressive 16-21 faceoffs for the game. The Knights were able to land the first goal of the day with about three minutes into the first quarter. It was only just two minutes before Jones started his powerful offensive presence to keep the score at even. 
 
Following Jones' goal, the Averill Park, NY native created an opportunity for freshman midfielder Colin Cleary to score his first collegiate goal for SUNY New Paltz, with a right hand stinger to put the Hawks up by one without even a minute passing. But, it wasn't the end for Jones, as just minutes later he was able to put another goal on the board to create a two goal lead with the help from Deacon Hill. The Hawks then held the Knights scoreless for roughly eight minutes, until they were able to score a man-up goal to end the quarter, trimming the SUNY New Paltz lead, 3-2.
 
 
Moving into the second quarter, the Hawks came out hot with Jones netting another goal, making it a hat trick just seconds into the quarter, assisted by Ethan Scully. SUNY New Paltz stayed patient on both offense and defense, not allowing the Knights to catch a lead. Three minutes following Jones' goal, Ryan Scully was able to snipe top shelf, bringing the lead to 5-2. Mt. Saint Mary started gaining momentum towards the end of the half, but Ethan Scully was able to get the last laugh to finish off the half at 6-4 with an acrobatic and airborne goal from across the crease. 
As the second half began, the Hawks kept their composure, utilizing their freelance offense and obtaining 50-50 balls to regain second chance opportunities and continuously resetting the shot clock. The Knights scored off a man-up opportunity as a result of an unreleasable delay of game penalty with 10 minutes left in the quarter. SUNY New Paltz dominated for the rest of the period though, leaving Mt. Saint Mary scoreless until the fourth quarter. John Reese landed his first goal of the game and sixth of the season with an assist by defender Michael Devoe. To finish off the quarter, Ryan Scully got his second of the game with an assist by Jones to make the score 8-5 going into the final quarter. 
 
Mt. Saint Mary found the back of the net  in first of the quarter, but the Hawks silenced the Knights until the final minutes of the game, creating a margin as high as a five. Jones was the first of the Hawks to score in the quarter, capping off his impressive four goal contribution for SUNY New Paltz. In almost exactly a minute's time, Anthony Senecal attacked the crease with a speedy left crease roll to bring the Hawks to a 10-6 game to keep their steady momentum. Neisler called a timeout to bring the boys in to keep composure as the game approached the final 10 minutes. Following the timeout, Reese was able to get a layup goal from Ryan Scully off a turnover in transition to create the largest margin of the game, making the score 11-6. 
 
The Knights took advantage of a man-up opportunity with their final goal within the last two minutes of the game, but it was not enough to catch up to the Hawks' electric energy. The final score stood at 11-8, making it the first win of SUNY New Paltz men's lacrosse season. 
 
"Yeah it feels great, you know I'm just playing my part, we all want to swing the ball around and show everybody some love. I'm looking forward for what's to come," said Jones, finishing the day off with a humble seven points for the Hawks.
 
The Hawks dominated statistically in virtually every category, outshooting the Knights 38-21, dominating 16 faceoffs to Mt. Saint Mary's six successful faceoffs, and coming up with a total of 31 ground balls for the day. Ryan Steinhart racked up eight saves for the game, going 18-for-20 on clears out of their defensive end. 
 
Jones had himself a game, with four goals with four shots on goal, three assists, and two ground balls. Ryan Scully and Reese both had two goals of their own and accumulated three ground balls collectively. Reese added an assist to his name as well. Ethan Scully and Senecal both finished with a goal, Scully with two assists and Senecal added another assist to the day. Zachary Leung held the defensive end, leading the team with two caused turnovers and two ground balls. 

SUNY New Paltz will take its energy into next week hoping to build a winning streak, as the Hawks will face St. Joseph's College Long Island on March 15 on the South Turf.

Highlights and Post-Game Featuring Aiden Jones


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