Troy, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz dropped its second consecutive game after falling on the road to hosting RPI Wednesday, 9-6.
 
The Hawks struggled finding opportunities on cage and finished with just 17 total shots and was blanked in the third quarter as they turned the ball over 16 times in the game, including eight in the third.
 
SUNY New Paltz led to start, but a tough sequence to end the first half, coupled with a slow start to the following quarter proved the difference with the Hawks defense the highlight, as they continued standing up on long offensive sets by the Engineers.
 
Mia Baldinger gave SUNY New Paltz the opening, 1-0 lead as RPI left the former All-SUNYAC pick 1-v1- around the crease with no slide. Baldinger took advantage of the matchup, working her defender before placing her shot top corner for the goal with about 11 minutes to go in the first.
 
The Engineers answered with consecutive chances on the hash, but the Hawks crashed hard with Maddy Luongo getting her stick on the shot to force an easy stop for goalie Piper Mascaros. However, junior defender Amy Whitman was called for a charge in transition and RPI was granted its first man-up opportunity. SUNY New Paltz stood up in their zone, even forcing a loose ball on a drop by the Engineers with pressure. However, the hosts came up with the ground ball in the broken play and took advantage in the scrum with a score in front of cage to tie the game at a goal apiece.
 
SUNY New Paltz's defense held strong on the final two possessions of the quarter. Chiara Rutigliano slid early to double the ball near the elbow, forcing a pass inside that was picked, one-handed by senior defender Sam Wohlmut who ran the ball all the way past the restraining line for the clear. However, the Hawks turned the ball over early in the shot clock on an errant pass inside. SUNY New Paltz's defense stood firm until the end of the period but struggled getting the ball up the field and the Engineers hung onto possession entering the second.  
The Hawks continued playing stout on the defensive end. Luongo won her 1-v-1 matchup at X and the pressure forced a turnover around the crease with Mascaros picking up the loose ball and getting a pass out for the clear. Helena Willis, in turn, tried to capitalize off the possession, earning a free position after getting hit going to goal. Her attempt though was an inch wide, as her bounce shot knocked off the low inside of the pipe and out. The Engineers nearly scored on the other end, finding an open man in front of goal but their shot rang off the crossbar to keep the score even.
 
SUNY New Paltz scored next time down on its offensive end, as Allison Beattie fed inside to a cutting Ava Padilla who kept her stick in her right to hit a twizzler for the highlight goal, pushing her team up 2-1 with 11:20 left in the half.
 
The two teams traded goals until RPI took its first lead at 4-3 with about 7:30 remaining, but the game seemingly flipped in the final three minutes of the half.

Whitman made a tough play around the crease, standing her ground on a drive and forcing a crease violation for the Engineer turnover. To double down, RPI was then hit with a green card in transition to give SUNY New Paltz its first man-up of the game and quickly was placed two up after RPI was caught offsides, resulting in another green card. The offense worked long into the shot clock with Willis finding space for an attempt, but her bounce shot was saved. RPI got the ball up the field for a clear and Baldinger was then called on a check near the head, resulting in a yellow and the hosts milked the rest of their cards before scoring a man-up goal of their own to boost the lead to 5-3.
 
RPI capitalized again with less than a minute to go, as a cutter got in behind for the easy score in front of net. The Hawks owned possession in the final seconds, but a lofted pass working the ball around by Baldinger was easily picked and the Engineers quickly got on the break, taking advantage of numbers and scoring another with 13 seconds to spare to flex a 7-3 cushion at the break.
SUNY New Paltz struggled getting past the Engineers ride to start the third quarter, but after the Hawks won back possession in the midfield, Wohlmut took it upon herself and used her speed to get the ball over the restraining line. But again, the Hawks turned the ball over early in the shot clock without a look at cage and the Engineers had a chance to build on their lead. Wohlmut was called on a back check, resulting in a free position with RPI capitalizing. The Engineers then added their final goal of the game 30 seconds later, winning the draw and scoring on a feed inside to bring the lead to 9-3 with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
 
SUNY New Paltz showed its grit defensively in the final minutes of the period, refusing to relent and kept the game close. Following a turnover on the offensive end, the Hawks anchored in with freshman Maddie Easton, Whitman and Wohlmut all standing up on their respective man matchup, resulting in a shot clock violation for the Engineers.
 
The ball was brought back down SUNY New Paltz's throats after another lost ball, but this time freshman midfielder Samantha Gemmo made a nice play defensively for the visitors, getting her stick up on a pass with Easton there for the ground ball pick up. SUNY New Paltz couldn't move the ball past midfield, however, resulting in another defensive set but the Hawks continued to dig in. Chiara Rutigliano came out and pressured her man, leading to a pass down to X. Wohlmut continued to force RPI into frantic decision-making, batting down a pass before forcing a desperate skip pass up top. Whitman was there on the check, leading to the turnover with Rutigliano cleaning up the loose ball and clearing once more for another impressive defensive stand.
 
SUNY New Paltz though, had trouble hanging onto the ball on its offensive side and after a few seconds saw the ball back down the field with Gabriella Tommaso coming up with a big free position save on the ensuing defensive set. RPI gifted the Hawks another man-up opportunity, again caught offsides, but a pass from Beattie to Katie Picarello cutting from behind the cage went high and RPI regained the ball and held onto possession entering the fourth.  
SUNY New Paltz finally earned a man-up goal in the fourth. Wohlmut was hit in transition, leading to a green card for the hosts. Easton ultimately helped get the ball over to the offensive end with Willis drawing shooting space for a free position attempt. The junior then found one more pass in Picarello who finished for the goal to cut the score, 9-4 with 12:30 left.
 
Atwater was handed a green card that allowed RPI another man-up opportunity, but the Hawks defense played well in their man-down zone. Whitman slid on a pass inside and forced the ball out, leading to a clear as the Hawks got out of the penalty unscathed. Tommaso then made a nice save low with the Engineers pushing on the break following a turnover by Padilla at X. Wohlmut used her legs to run the ball 30 yards down field with Padilla making up for the miscue, as she fed Beattie cutting from up top to trim the difference to 9-5 with less than five minutes to go.
 
However, SUNY New Paltz's chances dwindled in the remaining minutes. Tommaso kept the deficit at four with another free position save with Rutigliano picking up the ground ball and helping clear the other way, but the Hawks saw limited space for chances at goal. Samantha DeLucca capped the scoring, as Baldinger fed a nice pass as the junior caught and finished low to finalize the 9-6 score with 10 seconds left.
 
The Engineers out-shot SUNY New Paltz, 26-17, including 18-13 in shots on goal, while also winning the turnover battle (14-16) and picked up more ground balls (13-16), along with winning 11 draws to the Hawks' six.
 
Beattie led her team offensively with three points on a goal and two assists. Baldinger finished with a goal, an assist, a team-leading two ground balls and a caused turnover. Willis totaled a team-high three draws with an assist, a ground ball and one caused turnover. Mascaros and Tommaso split time in goal and finished with three and six saves, respectively.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Saturday, as it returns to North Turf Field to host St. Joseph's-Long Island for a 1 p.m. matchup.
 

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