The St. Lawrence University field hockey team opened their season in Utica, N.Y. Friday, dropping their contest against New Paltz by a score of 6-1.

The loss brings the Saints' overall record to 0-1 as they begin non-conference play at the Utica Tournament.

New Paltz came out strong and scored first, registering the game's opening goal at 6:43 of the first quarter off the stick of Rachel Tama.

St. Lawrence was able to stick with the Hawks for the remainder of the first, with goalie Elizabeth Walsh keeping them in the game by stopping four shots in the opening quarter. St. Lawrence registered one shot.

But the Scarlet and Brown offense got a boost in the second quarter, when Maggie Spire put the Saints on the board and tied the game at 18:38. She was able to create a scoring chance after a penalty corner, driving the front of the net for a long shot by Maja Helmer and depositing a rebound into the net for her first goal of the season.

After the two teams battled back and forth for the next eight minutes with neither goalkeeper budging, Tama got her second goal of the afternoon after a pass from Miranda Britton at 26:43, then New Paltz made it 3-1 three minutes later. That would carry the game into halftime.

New Paltz then benefited from Tama's hat trick goal to make it 4-1 shortly after the game came out of the break. Ashley McGough and Amanda Quenneville added goals after that which cemented the Hawks' win.

In addition to Spire's goal, the Saints also had offense in the form of shots on goal from Caroline Hamilton and Lily Gubbins, who both registered three shots each in the contest.

St. Lawrence returns to action against SUNY Oneonta Saturday morning in their second game of the Utica Tournament.