Junior goalkeeper
Sydney Giacin and the St. Lawrence defense held off the New Paltz attack through the first 46 minutes, but a pair of late goals helped the Hawks down the Saints, 2-0, in Utica on Saturday afternoon.
It was Carly Croteau who put the Hawks on the board in the 47
th minute with a cut in from eight yards out, before Morgan Gunter extended the lead to the final 2-0 margin in the 55
th.
 "Having played in our defensive end for most of the game, I think defensively we held up well," head coach
Fran Grembowicz said. "We held on, but to take that to the next step we need to see the passing game we saw yesterday against Oneonta. New Paltz really shut us down defensively and now we just need to learn how to adjust to different defenses in front of us."
The game was scoreless through the first three quarters, though New Paltz had a 12-0 lead in shots and Giacin was tasked with making five of her seven saves in that stretch.
New Paltz finished with a 16-1 advantage in shots, including a 9-0 edge in shots on goal, and also took 16 penalty corners to the Saints' one.
"They battled hard and didn't give up," Grembowicz added. "We had a great chance at the end of the game when
Maggie Green laid out for a shot that went just wide, and I just think that shows that we're not going to give and we'll battle to the final whistle."
With the loss, the Saints fall to 0-2 on the year, while New Paltz improves to 2-0.
The Saints will travel to Morrisville State on Wednesday, September 4 for a 6 p.m. non-conference matchup with the Mustangs.
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