Potsdam, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz went on the road and suffered a 16-6 loss to the hosting Potsdam Bears Saturday.
 
The Hawks dropped to 5-8 overall and 1-4 in the SUNYAC. SUNY New Paltz struggled offensively throughout the day, getting out-shot 50-29 while going 0-for-10 on man-up opportunities.
 
They looked at a 4-0 hole with six minutes to go in the first quarter before Thomas Armetta broke up the drought as he scored the first of the day for SUNY New Paltz off a feed from Ethan Scully. The two teams traded goals within seconds of each other after a faceoff violation following a Bears goal, which gave Ryan Scully the opportunity to score quickly on the possession with Anthony Senecal tallying the assist on the play. Potsdam got the last say of the quarter, however, as it entered the second period up, 6-2.
 
Potsdam opened up the game in the second as it scored four unanswered goals to take a commanding, 10-2 lead at halftime. The Hawks struggled to close the gap from there, trimming the deficit to as little as six late in the fourth quarter with a goal by John Reese, assisted by Armetta that got the score to 13-6. The Bears countered with three straight goals though in the final six minutes of the game to solidify the 10-point win.
 
Reese led SUNY New Paltz offensively with three goals. Senecal (two assists), James Flanagan (one goal, one assist) and Armetta (one goal, one assist) followed with two points apiece. Colin Cleary led the team with nine ground balls, while Zachary Leung and Zach Schmidt each totaled two caused turnovers to pace the team defensively. Ryan Steinhart played 53-plus minutes in net and tallied 17 saves.
 
The Hawks have two games left on their regular season schedule, not yet eliminated from playoff contention with two must-wins to keep the postseason hopes alive. The stretch starts Wednesday in their home finale on South Turf Field at 4 p.m. followed by their regular season finale on the road at Cortland at 1 p.m.


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