New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz bounced back from just its second home loss of the season with a comfortable, 16-9 win over visiting Poly Wednesday.
 
The Hawks improved to 4-4 overall on the year with the victory as they enter SUNYAC play this weekend when they face Plattsburgh on the road at 3 p.m.
 
SUNY New Paltz controlled the game from the start Wednesday after getting out to a 6-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Hawks ultimately out-shot the Wildcats (55-45), picked up more ground balls (21-17) won more faceoffs (15-14) and had a season-low 13 turnovers, while Poly tallied 19 in the game.
 
The Wildcats got within two early in the period after scoring back-to-back goals following faceoff wins, which led to quick goals to cut the deficit, 7-5. SUNY New Paltz answered late in the period with James Flanagan and Thomas Armetta finding the back of the net on a 3-0 run to conclude the half to give the Hawks a 10-5 advantage.
 
SUNY New Paltz held a comfortable lead from that point forward, as it finished the third with four unanswered goals after Poly opened up the half with a score to get within four. John Reese capped the stretch, finishing off a feed from Ethan Scully with two minutes to go in the period.
 
 
Dan Clark entered the game for starter Ryan Steinhart in goal and immediately made a nice stop with the Hawks clearing the other way resulting in a goal from Flanagan with Anthony Senecal the beneficiary on the play. SUNY New Paltz then capped its offensive night after a penalty kill, as Reese netted his third of the game off a pass from Flanagan.
 
The Wildcats scored three of their nine goals in the final four minutes to close the gap, but the Hawks had the win well put away to weather Poly's late surge.
 
Flanagan was the catalyst, scoring three goals and tallying three assists for a game-high six points, while adding a ground ball and one caused turnover. Armetta followed, finishing with a game-high five goals. Scully added a goal and three assists with four ground balls. Zachary Leung totaled a team-high three caused turnovers for SUNY New Paltz while Colin Cleary picked up a team-high five ground balls to go along with two goals.
 
Steinhart earned the win, making four saves in 45 minutes, while Clark registered a career-high eight saves in 15 minutes of work.


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