New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz fell 19-8 in its home opener against Montclair Saturday on North Turf Field. 
 
The Hawks (0-2 overall) looked at an early deficit as Montclair scored first, stemming off a turnover that led to a fast-break goal. The Red Hawks scored again in transition to bring the lead to 3-0 before a failed clear allowed them to capitalize once again forcing SUNY New Paltz coach Dylan Neisler into a timeout as his team faced a 4-0 hole with five minutes left in the first quarter. 
 
SUNY New Paltz answered out of a broken play. James Flanagan saved an errant pass from going out of bounds, flinging a pass back into play for Colin Cleary who had limited time left on the shot clock. As the seconds ticked down to one, Cleary was forced to rip a shot at cage, with his attempt finding the back of the net for the score to end the Montclair run. 
 
The goal didn't sustain momentum for the Hawks, however, as the Red Hawks netted another in the final seconds of the quarter to gain a 5-1 advantage. 
 
Five-straight goals in the second broke the game open for Montclair. Cleary ended the stretch with his second of the day, cutting the score to 10-2 with less than 90 seconds remaining in the half. The Red Hawks piled on two more in the last 30 seconds to establish a comfortable 10-goal cushion at the break.
 
 
SUNY New Paltz struggled to get anything going offensively, unable to get shots on target with the attempts they had on cage. In turn, Montclair kept piling on and took advantage of the momentum, creating a 16-2 lead with Cleary netting another as the quarter expired to cut the game to 16-3 going into the fourth. 
 
Cleary found the back of the net again to open up the final period, finishing on a feed by Anthony Senecal on the opening possession following a faceoff win by Quinn Tucker. 
 
Freshmen Jack McLoughlin and Nick Darcangelo scored their first collegiate goals to add to the offensive output for the Hawks, leading to the final 19-8 result. 
 
Cleary ended with a career-high four goals on seven shots. Darcangelo followed with two goals on four shots with McLoughlin and Ethan Scully the only other goal scorers on the day for the Hawks. 
 
Montclair totaled 50 shots, while SUNY New Paltz had 40. The Hawks held the advantage in nearly every other category, winning more faceoffs (16-12) and ground balls (26-21) with both teams fairly similar in the turnover battle as the Red Hawks held the slight, 20-19 advantage. 
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Monday, hosting SUNY Maritime on North Turf Field at 3 p.m.
 

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