New Paltz, NY — Locked in for its home opener Wednesday against a good Kean University team, the State University of New York at New Paltz provided the home crowd an impressive performance to stay unbeaten to start the year.
 
The Hawks (4-0 overall) out-played the Cougars (3-2) in every facet, totaling more shots, more caused turnovers and more ground balls en route to an impressive, 14-5 victory.
 
"I think we've done a great job in our last three games so far and we were excited to come in and play on our home turf in our home opener," said SUNY New Paltz senior captain Kaitlyn Shaw. "We wanted to win, and I think we did it in such a great way. We were nonstop the entire game, and we had our foot on the gas until the very last second."
 
The Hawks young offense was efficient early, led by sophomore Lexi Atwater who finished with a game-high five goals, while defensively, the team once again anchored in and kept the Cougars to just two goals through three quarters with senior Morgan Woolley setting a new single-game program record in caused turnovers along the way. However, the x-factor was Shaw, as the senior made an impact all over the field: defensively, in the midfield, on the draw while tallying two assists and two goals, with the latter officially propelling her forward as the program's new all-time goals record holder.
 
"She's all over the field," said SUNY New Paltz coach Randy Vote of her senior captain. "She's so good in transition, on the defensive end, on the offensive end and she didn't have as many opportunities offensively I think than she normally does, but I think it was because they had her number. They were sliding really early to her, but she was still able to facilitate and we were able to score off of them sliding early to her, and she still got those two in for the record, which I was really happy and proud of her for."
 
Atwater got the offense started, scoring a man-up goal following a beautiful save on the defensive end by freshman goalie Piper Mascaros who earned her first collegiate start. SUNY New Paltz settled in on the offensive end and earned a free position following a foul on Atwater who buried the attempt to give her team the initial 1-0 lead.
 
 
Another defensive stop led to the Hawks' second goal, as a long defensive stand created a turnover with Morgan Atwater picking up the loose ball on the other side of the restraining line and pushing the other way, which led to a shooting space call for Mia Baldinger. The sophomore stepped on the hash and scored her first of the day with four minutes to go to bring the score to 2-1 following a goal by the Cougars which tied the game four minutes earlier.
 
SUNY New Paltz extended its lead to 3-1 before quarter's end, as Lexi Atwater picked off a lofted pass by Kean goalie Nicole Peters on the attempted clear and quickly found Ava Padilla on the fast break, who dodged past three defenders and scored her first of her career.  
Kean trimmed the deficit to one after taking advantage of a man-up opportunity following a green card by defender Amy Whitman in transition. Whitman made up for the play, however. With about five minutes to go in the half, she helped clear the ball to the offensive end with her hair loose and ponytail out. Despite her hair flowing, she caught a pass in transition and fed Padilla who then found Lexi Atwater on the slow break to push the lead to 4-2.
 
The Hawks then sat with the final possession of the half, milking down the clock with 40 seconds remaining. They moved the ball, stayed patient, and ultimately capitalized with three seconds to go, as Shaw whipped a pass in the middle for a cutting Morgan Atwater who bounced her shot that found inside of the crossbar to bring the advantage to 5-2 at the break.
 
"Defensively we were so good," Vite said. "The only two goals they scored against us we were man-down, and I think they really struggled with our defense. We did a great job of crashing hard inside, putting pressure around the outside, turning them over. They were struggling even getting looks at cage.
 
"On the offensive end, it was the best lacrosse I've seen us play," Vite continued. "We were moving the ball, we were hitting the wide-open cutters, we were finishing. We could have even put a couple more away with some pipes that we hit, but that was definitely the best offensive game we've played. They're starting to click, they're starting to flow, they're starting to know where each other are, they're using each other really well and we're just scoring some really great goals."
 
SUNY New Paltz won the game in the third quarter in a dominant 15 minutes of play. Vite emphasized all season the importance of a strong start to the second half and her team did just that. The Hawks didn't allow a single shot in the third quarter and in turn, rolled with four unanswered goals to establish a seven-goal lead entering the fourth. Shaw was the highlight of the period, as the senior picked up a ground ball off her own shot attempt and placed the put-back into the back of the net to officially become the team's all-time program goal leader with her 131st career goal over just three seasons of play.  
The game became more physical in the fourth and the Hawks were hit with five cards in the period with Vite calling a timeout five minutes through to settle her young group down. The Cougars cut into the score at 11-4, but Mascaros stepped up to stop any type of real threat to the lead, as she produced four huge saves to keep Kean at a distance and solidify the nine-goal win.
 
"Piper, a freshman, this is the first shot she's seen in a college game, and she didn't skip a beat," Vite said. "Her clears were unreal and came up with some huge saves in the fourth quarter, and she didn't look like a freshman at all."
 
Overall, the Hawks out-shot the Cougars, 33-18, while forcing 26 turnovers, 21 caused, while suffering just 15 turnovers of their own. They held the advantage on ground balls as well, 18-16 with Kean picking up more draws, 12-10.
 
"Our defense is very strong this year," Woolley said. "We do a great job of communicating, but I think a big factor is when we do let in a goal, because goals are going to happen, the mindset behind that, everyone is just like, ok we're onto the next, and the communication and the positivity is really helping us with big defensive plays."
 
Lexi Atwater finished with a game-high six points (five goals, one assist), while adding two ground balls, one caused turnover and a draw control. Padilla had her best game of her young career, finishing with a goal and three assists. Morgan Atwater totaled four goals, a team-leading four ground balls with two caused turnovers and two draw controls, while Shaw finished with two goals, two assists with a team-leading four ground balls, two caused turnovers and two draw controls. Mascaros earned her first career win after finishing with seven saves in the full 60 minutes of action.
 
Woolley, meanwhile, registered one ground ball and a program record nine caused turnovers, destroying the previous record of six held by seven others.
 
"[Woolley's] job is to cause chaos and she for sure caused chaos today. She got off some crazy back checks and was coming up with some tough ground balls and our defense wouldn't be the same without her in that top spot," Vite said. "Lexi on the offensive end was catching and finishing today. We really look for her inside. she is a sneaky cutter, and she catches everything, and she did a great job of catching and finishing today."

SUNY New Paltz is back in action Saturday, going on the road to face St. Joseph's-Long Island at noon.


Post-Game Interview Featuring Kaitlyn Shaw & Morgan Woolley



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