The 2025 edition of the SUNY New Paltz women's lacrosse team has work left unfinished after last season's unprecedented campaign.
 
Surprising everyone but themselves, the 2024 Hawks set all kinds of records on their way to an historic season. A program best 14-4 overall and 6-3 SUNYAC mark, the team also made history with their best ever third place finish in the SUNYAC regular season, made their third straight appearance in the SUNYAC playoffs and then a first-ever playoff victory to march them into their first SUNAYC semifinal game. With the success came a record of six players who were named  to the All-SUNYAC team and two earning IWLCA All-Empire Region honors.
 
Last season, SUNY New Paltz wanted more, did more and got more than any other team in program history. Looking ahead, the Hawks are fearing no one in their pursuit of their first SUNYAC Championship.
 
"Our expectation coming into this 2025 season after setting such high expectations last season, is definitely just to go in without any fear and no hesitation," said SUNY New Paltz senior co-captain Francesca Corozzo. "We talked about our team theme being "no fear" — last year we were the type of team that was a get more, want more, do more team and we proved ourselves where we can go, and now it's just showing ourselves how far we actually can go."
 
The Hawks, led by fourth-year head coach Randy Vite, who, alongside second-year assistant Chris Biddle earned the program's first SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors, return virtually their entire roster from a year ago including 11 of 12 starters and all their top point getters. 
 
SUNY New Paltz scored a program record 260 goals last season, ranking third in the SUNYAC, led by six returnees highlighted by reigning SUNYAC Midfielder of the Year Kaitlyn Shaw who is back for her fifth and final season.
 
In an already illustrious career, Shaw will conclude her fourth season after already holding program records in career goals (185) and points (238), along with single season goals (70) and points (96), which she re-set two years in a row in career after leading her team to their first postseason victory and winningest season in program history.
 
 
"It being my last year, I really want to leave a mark on this program," Shaw said. "It's been an incredible journey to see how far this team has come. Last year was such an amazing year and I think it really showed what this team is really capable of. I came back this year with the goal of helping this program bring home its first SUNYAC Championship and I think this is the team that can definitely do it this year."
 
Returning at attack for SUNY New Paltz is senior Kira Tucker (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa HS) who saw action in all 18 games, and added 11 goals, one a game winner, with seven assists. Junior Lexi Atwater (Brighton, NY/Brighton HS) earned her first All-SUNYAC honors after scoring 58 goals and tallying nine assists with a .740 shots-on-goal percentage, while adding three game-winning goals to go along with 29 ground balls, 14 caused turnovers and 61 draw controls.
 
Ava Padilla (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook HS) enters her second season after earning a starting spot as a freshman. She added 15 goals and 29 assists, held an .897 shots-on-goal percentage with one game-winner in her first year. Joining her are fellow sophomores Samantha DeLucca (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook HS) and Allison Beattie (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia HS) who added five goals and three goals and 11 assists respectively, with DeLucca netting one game winner. Nicole Matthews (junior, East Setauket, NY/Ward Melville HS) rounds out the returners at the position, as she saw action in five games in 2024.
 
Returning to the Hudson Valley is sophomore transfer JoJo Williams (SUNY Old Westbury/Highland, NY/Highland HS). Williams started all 12 games for the Panthers in 2024 and was second in scoring with 17 goals and points with 21.

The future of the Hawks attack begins with two first year players: Shannon Lewis (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun HS) and Tiana Zarcone (Holbrook, NY/Sachem HS East). Lewis scored 109 goals in a five-year scholastic career along with 49 assists. Zarcone was a four-year varsity player for Sachem East.
 
 
The midfield will continue to be the strength and drive for SUNY New Paltz. Leading the charge is Shaw (Rye Brook, NY/Blind Brook HS). The co-captain is the Hawks most decorated lacrosse player ever, as she boasts a 2024 SUNYAC Midfielder of the Year selection, three All-SUNYAC nods and a two IWLCA All Empire Region picks after pacing her team with 70 goals, four game winners, and 26 assists with an .818 shots-on-goals percentage in 2024. She added 43 ground balls, 14 caused turnovers and 66 draw controls.
 
"I think every team that comes in has its own set of talents and specialties and I think this year just has a group of people that all have the same want and have the same desire to win in the end and beat all the teams in the SUNYAC before we change conferences," she said. "After last year we just want to build on what we did and be better than what we were last year. And I think the set of talent that every grade level, including the freshmen, have brought in is going to help us achieve that."  
Juniors Morgan Atwater (Brighton, NY/Brighton HS) and Mia Baldinger (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa HS) also highlight a stout midfield line with the two breaking out in their second seasons, both earning trips to the 2024 All-SUNYAC team. Atwater followed Shaw offensively, finishing second on the team in scoring with 66 goals, two game winners, with eight assists. She collected 43 ground balls, 25 caused turnovers and 66 draw controls, while Baldinger was fourth in scoring with 24 goals and first in assists with 60 — setting a new single-season program record — while adding 37 ground balls, 28 caused turnovers and 29 draw controls. Both Atwater and Baldinger will be featured primarily in the draw circle for the Hawks.
 
Sophomore Helena Willis (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Forks HS) returns for her second season. She appeared in seven games and scored one goal. They'll be joined by first year Katie Picarello (Stony Point, NY/North Rockland HS) who brings superlative credentials from a storied career at North Rockland High School. The two-time All-Section One and All-Rockland pick has the skills and poise to be an impact player in her first season, having the ability to play as a two-way midfielder while also seeing time as an attacker out of the box for Vite's offense.  
 
Meanwhile, Vite's defense returns all but one starter from a season ago with sophomore Amy Whitman also back after recovering from a season-ending injury that shortened a promising first year campaign. The Hawks' defensive unit allowed just 126 goals against all year, holding opponents to an average of seven per game in 2024.
 
Leading SUNY New Paltz's stingy zone defense is Corozzo and All-Region pick Morgan Woolley. Woolley (graduate student/Blue Point, NY/Bayport-Blue Point HS) started all 18 games on her way to earning All-SUNYAC and All-IWLCA Empire Region honors after setting a program record with 52 caused turnovers, while adding 39 ground balls. Corozzo (Glen Head, NY/North Shore HS) was named All-SUNYAC, starting 17 of 18 games with 42 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers.
 
"I've noticed this team progressively get better and better," Corozzo said. "I think that all of us have a shared want to just really go far and show our skills and show everyone in the SUNYAC who and what team we really are. With that being said, I think we get better every single day. We told ourselves we are going to practice harder against each other, more seriously, focus more in practice and I think it's done nothing but help us improve."  
Junior Sam Wohlmut (Center Moriches, NY/Center Moriches HS) returns, having started 10 of 16 games last season, while sophomores Whitman (Port Jefferson, NY/Earl L. Vandermuelen HS) and Aiylin Rutnik (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna HS) also bring experience to the defense. Rutnik started 15 of 17 games while Whitman started eight of 10 games before suffering a knee injury that kept her out the rest of the year.  
 
Five first year players will look to gain collegiate experience in 2025. All of them coming from respective championship caliber high school and club programs. Three hails from lacrosse hotspot Nassau County: Chiara Rutigliano (Oyster Bay, NY/Oyster Bay HS), Grace Vience (Massapequa Park, NY/Massapequa HS) and Maddy Luongo (Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale HS). From the other half of Long Island's lacrosse hotbed is Kelsey Foster (St. James, NY/Smithtown East HS), and across the Long Island Sound is Fairfield County's Mia Umbro (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull HS).
 
Experience between the pipes will be another strong point for the Hawks, with junior Gabriella Tommaso (Port Jefferson, NY/Comsewogue HS) and sophomore Piper Mascaros (Greenlawn, NY/Elwood-John H. Glenn HS). Tommaso saw the bulk of the action in 2024, starting 16 of 17 games with 828.44 minutes between the pipes. She allowed 107 goals for a 7.75 goals-against-average with 87 saves, finishing with a record of 13-4. Mascaros appeared in six games with one start and allowed only 11 goals for a minuscule 3.54 goals-against-average in 186.32 minutes of play with one win for the season. Joining them will be first year Izzy Miraglia (Hardyston, NJ/Sussex County Technical School). 
 
"I've seen the work ethic from every grade level increase throughout their years and I think this year is just so different because everybody is intense every practice," Shaw said. "They're working their hardest, they're working their best and when they mess up, they pick themselves up and they correct it on the next play. I think that's very telling of what the attitude is this year and what we're going to be showing, and how we're going to be playing on the field."
 
The Hawks were scheduled to open up their 2025 campaign at home against the Pioneers of Utica Saturday, but due to weather and field conditions the game was postponed to a later date. Instead, SUNY New Paltz will look ahead at Skidmore on the road March 1. Five more non-conference opponents follow: home against Mt. St. Mary College, away at Manhattanville University, home against Kean University, then away to the Rocky Mountains against No. 20 Colorado College and No. 10 Pomona-Pitzer.
 
"I have so much belief in this team," Shaw said. "We come out every day and work so hard to do it and I think down the line it's all going to pay off, because everybody wants to win and, in the end, I think that's going to translate into a championship."
 
SUNY New Paltz opens its SUNYAC season on the road at SUNY Canton on Saturday, March 22, then away again at Fredonia before returning home against SUNY Potsdam on Wednesday, April 2.  The Hawks will then go back on the road at SUNY Cortland before hosting Morrisville and Buffalo State, respectively, on North Turf Field. They then travel to Plattsburgh and Oswego before their final regular season game of the year against Catskill Cup rival Oneonta April 23.
 
The SUNYAC Championship first round playoff games begin on Saturday, April 26 with the semifinals held Wednesday, April 30 and the championship game on Saturday, May 3. The SUNYAC champion will receive an automatic invite to the NCAA DIII national tournament.
 
"The way we're going to move forward from last season is just, we weren't satisfied," Corozzo added. "We lost and we didn't come home with a chip last year and I think that's really what we want. We didn't beat certain teams we wanted to beat, and I think this year we just want to do more than what we did last year. That's our biggest motivation is to be better and want more. No fear."
 
Season Preview featuring Kaitlyn Shaw & Francesca Corozzo



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