Morrisville, NY — Ethan Scully was the hero Saturday against SUNY Morrisville.
 
The State University of New York New Paltz went into double overtime against the newly minted SUNYAC foe Mustangs and nearly went into a third until Scully drove and found the back of the net with 15 seconds to spare to push the Hawks to an 8-7 win and improve his team's record to 4-8 overall on the year while earning their first conference victory of the season.
 
SUNY New Paltz dominated on the stat sheet, out-shooting Morrisville, 47-36 including 30-19 in shots on goal, while picking up more ground balls, 42-24 and faceoffs, 14-4, but the Hawks struggled with turnovers, suffering 23 to the Mustangs' 20. Each team had a multitude of extra man opportunities with SUNY New Paltz going 3-for-8 in the power play, while the Mustangs capitalized on just 2-for-7.
 
The first quarter was tied at two after Killian Yombor and Anthony Senecal scored back-to-back for the Hawks to take the first lead of the game for the visitors, but Morrisville answered seconds before the end of the quarter following a save on a man-up opportunity on the other end. James Flanagan evened the game at 3-3 in the second and Senecal scored again on man-up off a feed from Finn Smith to push SUNY New Paltz ahead once again, taking a 4-3 lead at the half.  
The Mustangs scored three unanswered to start the third before Flanagan capitalized on a Morrisville slashing penalty following a save by Zach Novak.

Flanagan answered after a man-up goal by the Mustangs. Quinn Tucker won possession for his team and SUNY New Paltz coach Dylan Neisler called a timeout on the possession with just less than seven minutes left in the period. Blake Lyons had a good look, but his attempt was saved. Scully was there to pick up the loose ball to keep the Hawks offense on the field and ultimately, Senecal found Flanagan for the score to trim the difference to one. Another penalty allowed the Hawks to tie the game, as Senecal scored following the illegal body check from the Mustangs.
 
The score remained at 7-7 at regulation, forcing a four-minute overtime. SUNY New Paltz out-shot the Mustangs 5-1 in the first extra time period and overall had eight attempts to Morrisville's two in the eight minutes with Scully becoming the beneficiary with the game-winning goal with 15 seconds left in the second OT.
 
Senecal led the way offensively, totaling five points on three goals and an assist with two ground balls. Flanagan followed with three points and three ground balls. Tucker went 12-for-15 from the draw circle, picking up a team-high eight ground balls with two caused turnovers. Colin Cleary and Noah Reed each had five ground balls with Reed adding a team-high three caused turnovers. Novak played every second in goal and totaled 12 saves.
 
SUNY New Paltz, which improved to 1-1 in the SUNYAC, is back in action Wednesday, going on the road to face SUNY Cortland at 4 p.m.
 

******************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.