New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz suffered a 16-9 loss to visiting Potsdam Saturday on North Turf Field.
 
The Hawks dropped to 3-9 overall and 1-3 in the SUNYAC, while the Bears improved to 7-4 and 2-2, respectively.
 
Most of the first quarter went scoreless with Potsdam netting the game's first goal with three minutes left in the period. Potsdam had a near opportunity to go up early, as a shot blocked by Blake Lyons was quickly outletted downfield with the Bears having numbers in transition. However, Hawks attackman Killian Yombor showed grit in hustling down field to chase down long-pole Alex Farben-Griggs, diving to get a check on his stick on his attempt to jar the ball loose for the caused turnover.
 
Potsdam did eventually get to the net, however, as Braydon Goddard worked around the crease, getting his stick low and beating Hawks goalie Jacob Kenney on a sidearm shot that painted the bottom pipe to tallying the go-ahead goal with less than four minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
SUNY New Paltz's defense stood up the rest of the period, and the score remained at 1-0 entering the second. However, the visiting Bears broke the game open in the second with the Hawks chasing the rest of the game.
 
Potsdam scored back to-back goals to take a 3-0 lead two minutes into the second period and added another three minutes later. Drew Hulede came up with the caused turnover on a good check on Andrew Gubbins with SUNY New Paltz successfully clearing, however, a turnover by the Hawks on the offensive end allowed Potsdam to push and net another to go up 4-0 with 11 minutes left in the half.
 

The run continued as the Bears netted four within a three-minute span stemmed off faceoff wins to bring their lead to 8-0. Jack McLaughlin broke up the scoreless stretch for SUNY New Paltz, finishing on a feed from Finn Smith to cut the deficit to seven with about 90 seconds left in the first half.
 
The offense picked up in the second half for the Hawks Nick Darcagnelo and Smith each found the back of the net early in the third to cut the score to 10-4. Smith scored again thanks to a defensive stop for the hosts with goalie Jacob Kenney (14 saves) ending the set with a ground ball pick up. Luke Walters got in on the action, as the defensive midfielder scored his sixth of the season as the Hawks pushed in transition following a failed clear by the Bears. Potsdam answered though with less than a minute left in the quarter to bring the lead to 13-6 entering the fourth.
 
Darcangelo ripped a shot with five minutes left in the game that brought his team within six. After a Bears goal, Darcangelo rounded out the offensive afternoon for SUNY New Paltz, scoring an unassisted goal with two minutes left to bring the difference back to six.
 
However, the time winded and it was the closest SUNY New Paltz got within striking distance as the Bears added one more insurance goal to solidify the 16-9 outcome.
 
Darcangelo led the Hawks with a career-high four goals on 13 shots. McLaughlin and Smith followed with two goals and an assist with the former adding a ground ball and caused turnover. Sean Cassidy paced SUNY New Paltz defensively, as the LSM finished with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Hulede wasn't far behind, as the sophomore tallied two ground balls and a team-leading four caused turnovers.
 
 SUNY New Paltz is back in action next Saturday, hosting SUNY Cortland at 3 p.m. on North Turf Field.


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