New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz rolled to a 13-3 win over the visiting Canton Kangaroos Saturday on North Turf Field to open SUNYAC play.
 
The Hawks (5-3 overall, 1-0 SUNYAC) had a dominant first half, taking a 9-1 lead at the break. Lexi Atwater and Allison Beattie quickly gave the hosts a 2-0 advantage within the first minute of action following draw control wins by freshman midfielder Samantha Gemmo on the circle. Helena Willis then added another with more than nine minutes left in the quarter, capitalizing on a Canton green card and man-up opportunity.
 
The Roos (2-3, 0-1) were handed an unreleasable yellow and SUNY New Paltz immediately answered on another penalty, quickly moving the ball around leading to a Gemmo goal off a pass from Ava Padilla to create a 5-0 cushion. Canton answered though before the end of the period, as SUNY New Paltz gifted the Roos a two man-up situation after fouling on the ride before being caught offside for two consecutive green cards with the visitors scoring their first of the game with less than two minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
The Hawks also had a tough end to the period losing possession just as they crossed the restraining line on a clear resulting in Canton's ball to begin the second. However, Willis helped swing the momentum back toward the hosts, as the Roos worked back to their goalie as they tried to move the ball up the field. SUNY New Paltz marked tight allowing Willis to sneak behind Roos goalie Laura Falandys and check the ball out. The Binghamton, NY native then picked up the loose ball and scored on the empty net to re-up her team's five-goal lead seconds into the period.
 
Beattie scored next for SUNY New Paltz, taking advantage of another unreleasable yellow by Canton for a cross check on Hawks sophomore midfielder Katie Picarello. Beattie capitalized on the opportunity, working right and pinging the top right pipe for her second of the day.
SUNY New Paltz piled on with two more within the following 30 seconds. Atwater rose up and snagged the ball out of the air off a Willis draw control and the result was a Mia Baldinger score, finishing on a feed from Willis with the Hawks still man-up. Atwater again won possession off the draw, and this time Padilla found a cutting Baldinger who quick-sticked her second of the day into the net to boost the lead to 9-1 still with more than nine minutes left in the period.
 
 
Turnovers started plaguing SUNY New Paltz down the stretch of the half, however, stalling its offensive momentum as it ended the half with six turnovers and was kept off the board to hold the 9-1 score at the break.
 
After Canton cut the deficit 10-2 midway through the quarter, the Hawks answered on the Roos third yellow unreleasable penalty after sophomore defender Maddy Luongo got hammered in the ribs on a foul in transition. Baldinger again was the beneficiary, scoring off a pass from Picarello. She then won possession off the draw circle and took advantage once more, tallying another off a pass from Beattie to create a running clock for her side with five minutes to go in the third.  
SUNY New Paltz added one more in the stanza, which capped its offensive night. The sequence stemmed off a caused turnover by junior defender Amy Whitman on the ride. The Port Jefferson, NY native got her stick on a pass to force the turnover with senior defender Sam Wohlmut there to clean up for the ground ball pick up with the Hawks clearing the other restraining line. Atwater earned back-to-back free positions in the sequence and capitalized on the latter to create an 11-point advantage.
 
Canton had its most productive quarter in the fourth, totaling a game-high seven shots and found the back of the net one last time with two minutes left stemmed off a turnover in the midfield to finalize the 13-3 scoreline.
 
SUNY New Paltz out-shot the Roos, 29-15 in the game including 20-6 in shots on goal. The hosts forced 26 turnovers but yielded 18 of its own. However, the Hawks were the superior team on the clear, going 10-for-11 while Canton finished just 8-for-20 in the category.
 
The offense was spread around for the second straight game, led by Beattie with five points on two goals and three assists. The junior also added two ground balls and a caused turnover. Baldinger led all scorers with four goals and tallied three ground balls, three caused turnovers and a draw control. Padilla matched Baldinger with four points, adding two goals, two assists and one ground ball.
 
Whitman was the catalyst defensively as the junior captain finished with career highs of four caused turnovers and six ground balls in only three quarters played. Piper Mascaros and Gabriella Tommaso split time in goal totaling two and four saves, respectively.
 
SUNY New Paltz returns home next Saturday, as it continues SUNYAC play hosting Fredonia State at 1 p.m. on North Turf Field.

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