New Paltz, NY — A rough first quarter dug the State University of New York at New Paltz in too big of a hole to climb out of and ultimately the Hawks fell in their home opener Wednesday on South Turf Field, 18-9 to Farmingdale State.
 
SUNY New Paltz struggled gaining possessions offensively, getting out-shot 67-28 in the game after losing 23 of 31 faceoffs.
 
Aiden Jones tied the game at 1-1 after capitalizing on the Hawks' first offensive set of the game, which came off a defensive stop with Ryan Steinhart making a save on the other end. The Rams went on a run the last 10 minutes of the first quarter, which decided the game as they rattled off seven-straight goals to take an 8-1 advantage into the second period.
 
SUNY New Paltz scored to start the second, taking advantage of a man-up opportunity on a slashing call on Farmingdale. Jones again was the beneficiary, finishing on a feed inside from Ryan Scully. James Flanagan then cut the score to 8-3 three minutes later following another save from Steinhart on the defensive end. Flanagan danced around the crease to create space and finished for his third of the year.
 
The Rams re-upped the six-goal lead after scoring on a 30-second holding penalty by the Hawks. They then closed out the half with two more goals to take a 10-3 lead into the break.

 
 
Second half was closer between the two sides with the Rams having the slight advantage in goals, 7-6. John Reese, Flanagan and Ethan Scully all found the back of the net for the Hawks in the third quarter with Ryan Scully, Thomas Armetta and Flanagan scoring in the fourth.
 
Farmingdale held the advantage in nearly every statistical category on the day, including shots, ground balls (30-12), faceoffs (23-8) and turnovers (14-21).
 
Flanagan led the team offensively with three goals. Zachary Leung led the team defensively with five ground balls, one caused turnover and three faceoff wins. Steinhart finished with 18 saves in the full 60 minutes of action.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Saturday when it travels to Newton, MA to take on Lasell at 1 p.m.


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