New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz had a rematch of its semifinal conference matchup from a year ago, hosting SUNY Geneseo Saturday on South Turf Field.
 
Ryan Steinhart played one of his best games of the season between the pipes for the Hawks, who honored Steinhart and fellow seniors Zachary Leung, Deacon Hill, Ryan Kaelin, John Reese, Elias Elcock and Matt Brignati, prior to the game. Steinhart finished with 20 saves, nine of which came in the first quarter to keep his team afloat against an offensive barrage by the Knights. Ultimately, the effort in the cage wasn't enough, as Geneseo took the win, 14-5.
 
Thanks to the effort of Steinhart, SUNY New Paltz faced just a 2-0 deficit entering the second quarter. The Hawks killed a two-man down penalty to start the quarter to keep the score at 3-0 after Geneseo got on the board early in the period. The Knights finally found the back of the cage midway through the quarter, as a late slide left a man open in front of the net to push the lead to 4-0. The Knights then quickly added on off a faceoff win to fatten their cushion to 5-0.
 
Anthony Senecal cut into the deficit and got SUNY New Paltz on the board with about five minutes left in the half scoring off a feed from Ryan Scully, but Geneseo answered before quarter's end, taking advantage of a turnover on the opposite end to extend the lead to 6-1 at the break.

 
 
The Knights opened up the game in the third quarter, scoring four unanswered goals in the final seven minutes after the Hawks did a good job holding them defensively to start the half with both teams struggling to shoot on target, each putting on five shots in the eight-minute stretch to begin the quarter.   
 
SUNY New Paltz took an 11-1 lead until Ethan Scully broke up the unanswered run with an unassisted goal in the opening minute of the fourth. Geneseo took a 14-2 lead with 10 minutes to go. The Hawks ended the game with goals from Aiden Jones, Ryan Scully and John Reese to close the gap and solidify the 14-5 outcome.  
The Knights held the advantage on most statistical categories, taking more shots (62-23), picking up more ground balls (39-18) and winning more faceoffs (20-3) than the Hawks. Each team struggled holding onto the ball with SUNY New Paltz totaling 26 turnovers and Geneseo with 21.
 
Ryan Scully was the Hawks leading point getter, finishing with a goal and an assist. Leung led the team defensively with four ground balls and four caused turnovers, followed by Danny McLoughlin who had three ground balls and four caused turnovers.
 
SUNY New Paltz dropped to 4-7 overall and 0-3 in the SUNYAC with the loss and look to nip a three-game losing skid Tuesday when it hits the road to face SUNY Plattsburgh in a makeup conference matchup that was initially scheduled for March 23 but was moved due to weather. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 

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