Oneonta, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz lost 21-6 on the road to Oneonta Wednesday.
 
The Hawks (6-10 overall, 3-1 SUNYAC) had trouble finding offensive possessions, as the Red Dragons dominated at the faceoff X while forcing SUNY New Paltz into 22 turnovers and held the visitors to just 17-for-22 in clears to aid in the victory.
 
Oneonta out-shot the Hawks, 59-36 including 38-22 in shots on goal while keeping them without an attempt at cage in the third quarter to help in a 9-0 run within the 15 minutes of play to help fatten its cushion for the uneven win.
 
The Red Dragons struck first five minutes into the first period on an extended offensive possession. The Hawks answered on their next chance at net after Noah Reed helped force a turnover leading to a ground ball pickup by Colin Cleary off the draw, resulting in a Blake Lyons goal to knot the score. Oneonta answered with three straight goals until James Flanagan put an end to the stretch with a man-up score off a feed by Finn Smith with two minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
SUNY New Paltz's offense went cold to start the second, struggling to find possessions as the Red Dragons rattled off back-to-back goals with 12 minutes left before scoring three more with five minutes remaining. Flanagan put an end to the stretch following a faceoff win by Noah Reed on a ground ball from Quinn Tucker. The Hawks forced a turnover on the ensuing draw, leading to another Lyons goal to trim the deficit to 9-4 with two minutes to go before the half.  
Oneonta won the ensuing possession and called a timeout to draw up a play before the break and it executed, scoring one last time in the quarter to head into halftime up, 10-4.
 
The Red Dragons then broke open the game in the third quarter, scoring nine unanswered to go up big, 19-4 in the final 15 minutes all but putting the game away.
 
Flanagan led the team with three goals, followed by Finn Smith who had a goal and two assists with Lyons following with two goals. Smith totaled a team-high five ground balls as well. Zach Novak earned the start and posted 13 saves in 41-plus minutes with Eric Waldron coming in for the last 18-plus and making four stops.
 
Despite the loss, SUNY New Paltz still has an opportunity to clinch a playoff berth Saturday in what in turn is a win and advance scenario against Potsdam. The winner will face the top seed in the tournament, which will either be Cortland or Oneonta, Wednesday, April 30.
 

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