New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz opened up its home 2026 schedule to Skidmore Saturday morning on North Turf Field and suffered its first loss of the year, 13-6.
 
It was a sloppy game on both sides to start with the ball on the ground frequently in the opening quarter. The Thoroughbreds ended up with 22 ground balls to the Hawks' 17 with the visitors also holding the advantage in shots (29-15), shots on goal (19-11), draws (14-8), turnovers (18-23) — with 16 of SUNY New Paltz's 23 turnovers coming on the offensive end — and clears, as Skidmore went 18-for-19, while the Hawks were successful on 21-for-26.
 
Lexi Atwater scored on the first offensive possession for the hosts, earning a free position after getting hit inside and scoring on the opportunity two minutes in. Atwater won the ensuing draw control, but the Hawks couldn't maintain possession on the offensive end, as Skidmore quickly transitioned the other way for the goal to tie the game at a 1-1.
 
The Hawks had a prime opportunity to get back in front, as the Thoroughbreds were hit with a green card, but they turned the ball over once again on the offensive end in the man-up situation and once Skidmore got to full strength they scored on the ensuing possession to instead go up and they never trailed the rest of the way. They quickly added on after winning the next draw and scoring on the semi-transition to take a 3-1 lead into the second quarter.
 
 
Skidmore scored in the opening minutes of the second period, taking advantage of a green card by SUNY New Paltz and earning a free position inside where they buried the attempt to push the lead to 4-1. They scored another man-up goal two minutes later before Allison Beattie put an end to the stretch with five minutes to go in the half. Piper Mascaros made a nice save on the defensive side with the Hawks clearing cleanly. Katie Picarello had the first look on cage, which hit off Thoroughbred goalie Tatum Walsh. Beattie was there to clean up though, picking up the loose ball and putting away her second of the season to trim the deficit to three with the score standing at 5-2 at the break.  
Skdimore started pulling away to start the second half, scoring immediately after the opening draw and rattling off four more within the next five minutes to build a 9-2 cushion.
 
Samantha DeLucca ended the stretch for SUNY New Paltz, as Picarello fed a nice pass inside to a cutting DeLucca who switched hands and scored on a man-up goal following a green card for the Thoroughbreds. The visitors won the ensuing draw control, but junior defender Amy Whitman forced a turnover on an early slide inside the 8-meter with Maddy Luongo coming up with the ground ball. Helena Willis then got in on the action, finding space and firing a bullet top corner to ignite her team with the Hawks starting to build momentum for a comeback.
 
Atwater won the ensuing draw before becoming the benefactor on a feed from Mia Baldinger on a patient offensive set to trim the score to 9-5 with about six minutes to go in the third. Beattie sliced the difference to four two minutes later, as the junior worked around the crease dodged past her defender and placed her shot past Walsh for the goal.
 
Baldinger won the ensuing draw but couldn't corral the ball over the restraining line and instead turned the ball over leading to a goal by Skidmore on a rip side corner to re-up the four-goal cushion.
 
SUNY New Paltz had a nice defensive stand to end the quarter, as senior defender Sam Wohlmut stood up her man on the 1-v-1 and forced a turnover, collected the ground ball and got transition going the other way. The Hawks cleared successfully, but the offense lost possession almost immediately and the visitors held the ball to secure position to start the fourth quarter. They immediately capitalized to begin the final period with Julia Cafasso scoring on another laser that painted the top pipe to give the Thoroughbreds an 11-6 lead.  
SUNY New Paltz answered four minutes later, stemmed off another defensive play from Wohlmut, as the senior got her stick on a pass toward X to create the caused turnover before picking up the loose ball and starting transition the other way. The result was another Atwater goal, as Beattie had a nice look to earn the assist on the play to keep the Hawks alive at 11-7 with more than 11 minutes to go.
 
However, careless turnovers plagued the hosts momentum. A throwaway on the offensive end led to a chaotic sequence with Aiylin Rutnik charged on the turnover as she tried to win the ball back and re-set, but Skidmore got its stick on the pass to win back possession and get started on the break, scoring on the opportunity to create a five-goal advantage. The Thoroughbreds added one more on a free position attempt following a win on the draw to conclude the offense on the day with eight minutes left.
 
SUNY New Paltz struggled getting good looks at cage in the waning time remaining, tallying three shots in the final eight minutes with only one on target as it saw its comeback come short and suffered its first loss of the year.
 
Beattie and Atwater led the team offensively with three points apiece. Beattie had two goals and an assist and added two ground balls and one caused turnover. Atwater tallied three goals on four shots, one ground ball and a team-leading four draws. Wohlmut was the catalyst defensively for the Hawks, recording a team-high three ground balls and a career-high six caused turnovers, which tied for fourth-most in single game program history. Whitman followed with two ground balls and three caused turnovers, tying a career high.
 
Mascaros and Tommaso split time in goal and each totaled four saves, while Walsh made five stops for the Thoroughbreds.
 
SUNY New Paltz has another tough test on the schedule, going on the road to face RPI Wednesday at 4 p.m.
 

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