New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz hosted Misericordia University Saturday on North Turf Field and suffered a 16-6 loss dropping to 2-5 overall.
 
The Hawks were forced to climb out of a 9-0 hole that bled deep into the second quarter. Killian Yombor put an end to the scoreless run for SUNY New Paltz, scoring his fourth of the season off an assist from Finn Smith with less than a minute remaining before the break.
 
The start of the second half was tough for the Hawks, as they looked at an 11-goal deficit with 11:30 remaining in the third after the Cougars scored on the other end following a turnover by SUNY New Paltz's offense to create a 12-1 score. Anthony Senecal cut into the deficit four minutes later thanks to a caused turnover on the defensive end by Drew Hulede. Fellow pole Noah Reed picked up the ground ball and cleared the other way with Senecal capitalizing as he scored his team-leading 12th of the season.
 
Misericordia continued to pile on to end the period, however, netting back-to-back goals less than a minute apart. The Cougars took advantage of a man-up situation following a slashing penalty on pole Aidan Harrington. Misercordia then won the ensuing faceoff and quickly added on to push its advantage to 14-2.
 
The Hawks had looks to end the quarter, as James Flanagan, back from a three-game absence due to injury, fired four shots in the final two minutes, while Yombor and senior midfielder Ethan Scully each had looks on cage, but all attempts except the last for Flanagan went wide while Cougars goalie Sean Wallace made the stop on Flanagan's to end the period.
 
SUNY New Paltz rallied in the fourth, out-shooting Misericordia, 16-6 in the stanza,
 
After the Cougars took their largest lead at 15-2 to start the final 15 minutes, the Hawks netted four-straight to close the gap to nine. Flanagan got the offense going with a man-up goal off a feed by Scully. Flanagan scored again with less than 10 minutes remaining. The senior worked to win the ball back on the ride, forcing at turnover and picking up the ground ball to help his team to another possession. Senecal provided the first shot in the set but was saved by Wallace. SUNY New Paltz retained possession leading to a Flanagan goal off a dish from Scully.
 
SUNY New Paltz scored its fifth with less than eight minutes left, stemming off an initial stop from the defensive end by Eric Waldron. The Hawks cleared and Scully took advantage as he netted his seventh of the season to cut the lead to 10.
 
Ryan O'Hara won the ensuing faceoff for SUNY New Paltz with the Cougars hit with a 30 second pushing penalty soon after. Yombor fired a shot on cage that was saved, but a turnover by Misericordia gave the Hawks another chance and Yombor took the opportunity, picking up the loose ball and scoring to bring the deficit to 15-6 with seven minutes to go.
 
The comeback stalled there, however, as the Cougars added an insurance goal three minutes later to solidify the double-digit win and closing the door on a Hawks rally.
 
SUNY New Paltz ended up out-shooting the visitors, 42-41 in the game with both teams similar in turnovers (13-12), ground balls (9-12) and faceoffs (12-12).
 
 
Scully led the team in points (3), adding two assists and a goal, followed by Yombor and Flanagan who each had two off two goals. Flanagan took a team-high 14 shots and added a ground ball and caused turnover. Hulede led the team with two ground balls and two caused turnovers defensively. Zach Novak earned the start and totaled 11 saves through three quarters of work with Waldron finishing with three stops in the last 15 minutes.
 
The Hawks have a week off until their next contest when they go on the road to face Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx at 11 a.m. March 22.

 
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