Colorado Springs, CO — The State University of New York New Paltz concluded its spring break trip to Colorado Springs Wednesday, going up against one of the best teams in the country in No. 9 nationally ranked Pomona-Pitzer and suffered just their second loss of the season, falling 14-4.

The Hawks had a quick turnaround from their upset victory over No. 19 Colorado College Monday and were without two of their defensive starters in co-captain Francesca Corozzo and sophomore Amy Whitman. However, despite the thin depth, players stepped up for coach Randy Vite's squad with the team keeping a fairly close first half.  
 
Morgan Atwater got the offense going for SUNY New Paltz, scoring the game's opening goal four minutes into the contest.
 
The Hawks held firm defensively and stayed disciplined against a talented Pomona-Pitzer offense. The pressure forced the Sagehens into a poor pass from behind the cage that was nicely read and picked by SUNY New Paltz goalie Gabriella Tommaso, who quickly got the ball out to defender Sam Wohlmut. The junior then did the rest, clearing the length of the field to help her team settle in an offensive set. Atwater capitalized, driving and finishing for her 13th of the season.
 
Atwater won the ensuing draw possession for a chance to double her team's lead, but the Hawks turned the ball over on the offensive end as Mia Baldinger tried feeding Lexi Atwater inside in traffic with the ball going out of play. Pomona-Pitzer cleanly cleared and was awarded a free position after a foul by Wohlmut in the eight. It converted on the attempt, tying the game at ones.
 
 
SUNY New Paltz's defense continued to remain steadfast, making another defensive stop, getting sticks in passing lanes to knock down passes inside, but couldn't finish the play with a ground ball pick up. In turn, Pomona-Pitzer was awarded another opportunity which led to a shooting space call and another free position, which it capitalized on to grab a 2-1 lead with about seven minutes left in the first quarter.
 
The Hawks were soon hit with a two-minute yellow card, giving the Sagehens a prime opportunity to build onto their lead but they killed the penalty with some stingy man-down defense. Aiylin Rutnik helped her team get out of their defensive zone, batting down a pass with Baldinger picking up the ground ball to kill the clock.
 
Pomona-Pitzer managed to add on with about 90 seconds to go in the first, taking advantage of a turnover by SUNY New Paltz to push its lead to 3-1 entering the second quarter.
 
The Hawks had an opportunity to cut into the lead, as the Sagehens were hit with a yellow on a check to the head in the midfield as freshman Chiara Rutigliano tried clearing the ball the other way. Pomona-Pitzer won the ball back though with a clean check on a driving Morgan Atwater, milked the time and then scored once even.
 
The Sagehens started building a comfortable lead, scoring three straight within a two minute span to go up 7-1 with seven minutes left in the half. SUNY New Paltz finally answered the 7-0 run, as Baldinger fed Lexi Atwater for the goal.
 
Lexi Atwater, who came off arguably her best collegiate performance against the Tigers, scoring six of the team's eight goals including the game-winner in the victory, nearly tacked on her second two minutes later. Wohlmut got the play started, as she hunted down a back check behind the cage, picked up the ground ball and helped her team clear the other way. The Hawks settled and found a cutting Lexi Atwater who got a look, but her attempt ricocheted off the pipe.
 
SUNY New Paltz had trouble clearing past the restraining line in the final two minutes, hindering chances on the offensive while Pomona-Pitzer registered one more before the break to take an 8-2 lead.
 
Fatigue started to set in for the Hawks in the second half, as the Sagehens rattled off three-straight goals in the opening five minutes. Morgan Atwater broke up the stretch with her second of the game on a feed by Ava Padilla. Pomona-Pitzer finished the quarter with a 13-3 lead and a running clock, but SUNY New Paltz kept fighting and got within nine at the start of the final 15 minutes. Good ball movement led to a skip pass to Kaitlyn Shaw who dodged one defender before drawing shooting space and a free position at the center hash. She lined up and fired a bullet bottom left corner for the score.
 
The Sagehens put away one last goal with 12 minutes remaining and the offense stalled from there for both sides resulting in the 14-4 outcome.
 
Pomona-Pitzer out-shot SUNY New Paltz, 33-17 and forced 24 turnovers with Hawks forcing 12, as they struggled in the clear going 16-for-24. SUNY New Paltz did hold the advantage in draws, 11-10 led by Shaw and Lexi Atwater with five and four, respectively. Tommaso led the team with three ground balls, while adding two caused turnovers and seven saves in 30 minutes of action.
 
The Hawks (5-2 overall) return home and begin SUNYAC action for the first time this season, going on the road to face SUNY Canton Saturday at 1 p.m.
 

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