Plattsburgh, NY — It's year two for the State University of New York at New Paltz men's lacrosse program, but year one is underway in the SUNYAC conference for the Hawks.
After the team's inaugural season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and their first home game of the year was postponed due to COVID protocols, SUNY New Paltz finally took the field against a State University of New York Athletic Conference opponent. However, SUNY Plattsburgh (1-0 SUNYAC, overall) scored seven in the first half and never looked back, beating the Hawks (0-1 SUNYAC, 0-2 overall) in their season opener,13-3.
"Mindset is we must learn and apply," said SUNY New Paltz coach Dwayne Stewart. "We did a lot of good things and a lot of bad. We have to get better by playing, learn more about ourselves, and applying new information to the next day."
Gallery: (3-29-2021) Men's Lacrosse vs. Plattsburgh (3/29/21)
Similar to their previous matchup against Utica, Plattsburgh dominated the possession time the entire game. The Cardinals scored two goals from the nets of Michael Swift and Stephen Kane within 30 seconds of each other, before Hawks freshman Ryan Kaelin scored a man-up goal, assisted by Aidan Gregory, with 6:26 left and John Reese scored the second goal of his collegiate career around 40 seconds later to tie the game at two.
From there, Plattsburgh began to pull away, scoring two more to end the first period, then scoring four uncontested goals, including a stunning assist and score with five seconds left, to end the half. Plattsburgh scored two more in the third period before SUNY New Paltz finally scored a third time with another Kaelin goal, also assisted by Gregory, with 4:29 left. Plattsburgh netted four in the last 18 minutes to secure its first win of the year. 
"Mindset to putting the ball in the back of the cage [and] keep on shooting," Stewart said. "Plattsburgh's goalie did one hell of a job in the cage. All credit to 32 [Christian Bassi] for our poor shooting."
Kaelin and Gregory's two points led the Hawks, while the former paced the team with nine shots, eight of them on goal. Sophomore goaltender Nate Lindsey saved 11 of the Cardinals 30 shots on goal. Dilon Smith led Plattsburgh with seven points on five assists and two goals, while Connor Wolff scored four of the Cardinals' 13 goals.
"RK scored his first two goals in SUNYAC play," said Stewart on Kaelin's performance. "Rk is a freshman, every day he practices, every game he plays, he'll learn and become a better player. I believe he will continue to do well the more he plays."
Shots on goal and turnovers were a big part of the Hawks' loss. They had 37 shot attempts, up from their 29 against Utica, but just 14 were on goal. They also turned the ball over 34 times — including 19 in the second half — compared to Plattsburgh's 24 — with just 11 of those 24 turnovers caused by SUNY New Paltz.
They also lost on ground balls and faceoffs, recovering just 28 ground balls compared to the Cardinals 48, and winning seven of the 20 faceoffs throughout the game.
"Thirty-five turnovers will not give us a chance to be in any game," Stewart said. "We have a few players playing out of place. Once we get comfortable and build more confidence, turnovers will reduce. Friday, we must take care of the ball, commit less turnovers. Also, we have to correct our clear. If we can do that, we will have a better day on Friday.
"SUNYAC is a great conference with great coaches. The team looks forward to competing with some of the nation's best."
The Hawks will continue the program's inaugural SUNYAC season as they travel to face SUNY Potsdam on Friday. Faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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