New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz collected its second-straight lopsided victory in consecutive days Wednesday on North Turf Field after handily defeating visiting Mt. St. Mary's College, 19-4.

The game also served as a Morgan's Message Game, dedicated to Morgan Rodgers, a former Duke University Lacrosse student-athlete who died tragically in July 2019 after battling mental health struggles. Both teams showed their support with warm-up shirts dedicated to the cause.

As far as the play on the field, the Hawks owned the game from start to finish. They scored their first just two into the matchup, thanks to Lexi Atwater on an assist from Ava Padilla. SUNY New Paltz rolled from there, earning a running clock with a minute left in the first quarter as Morgan Atwater capped a 10-0 period on a score.

The run continued into the second, as Kaitlyn Shaw scored back-to-back goals off feeds from Katie Picarello and Allison Beattie, respectively, four minutes into the quarter. Beattie zipped another inside, finding Nicole Matthews for her first of the season to cap the unanswered stretch before the Knights got on the board with about seven minutes to go before the break.
 

As rain began coming down hard on North Turf Field, SUNY New Paltz re-ignited. Helena Willis answered for the Hawks, scoring on a drive off a dish from Shaw for her first of the year with Shaw ending the half with her fifth off another assist from Ava Padilla.

The Hawks allowed just two shots in the first half, as they dominated possession and forced 14 turnovers in the opening 30 minutes. SUNY New Paltz got contributions from its bench in the second half to close out with the win, highlighted by freshman defender Maddy Luongo who registered two ground balls and two caused turnovers in her first action of her collegiate career.
 
Shaw finished as the team's leading point-getter, recording five goals and one assist, while adding two ground balls, a team-leading four caused turnovers and three draw controls. Mia Baldinger, Morgan Atwater and Beattie all followed with four points apiece. The four points by Beattie was a career-high, as she totaled a career-high three assists to go along with one goal.

Francesca Corozzo led the team with four ground balls to go along with two caused turnovers, while Morgan Atwater had a game-high five draw controls. Gabriella Tommaso earned the win, playing 25 minutes in limited work with Piper Mascaros and Izzy Miraglia closing out the final 35 minutes with one and two saves, respectively, with Miraglia making her collegiate debut.

SUNY New Paltz ultimately out-shot MSMC, 33-9. The Hawks also held the advantage in turnovers (17-21), ground balls (22-13) and draw controls (17-8).
 
SUNY New Paltz improved to 2-1 on the year with the victory, as it hits the road to face Manhattanville Saturday at noon.
 


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