POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam Women's lacrosse team rallied from an early deficit to defeat New Paltz (7-9, 0-7 SUNYAC) 13-12 in its final contest of the season. The win snaps a seven-game losing streak. Junior Maribeth Simmons (Clinton, Conn./The Morgan School) led the Bears with four goals and an assist and junior Carly Richards (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) contributed two goals and two assists. Senior Bridgitte Hooker (Glens Falls, N.Y./Glens Falls) paced the Hawks with five goals, while junior Samantha DelGaudio (Northport, N.Y./Northport) and sophomore Erin Tornatore (Glen Cove, N.Y./North Shore) each scored twice.

New Paltz jumped out to a 2-0 lead just three and a half minutes into the contest, but Potsdam responded with five straight from five different Bears. Sophomore Lizzy Penree (Cooperstown, N.Y./Indian River) put Potsdam up 3-2 at the 20:39 mark and the Bears never trailed again. The rest of the half was composed of a series short runs as each team slugged it out. At 14:42 senior Kathleen Frear (Scotia, N.Y./Scoria-Glenville) extended Potsdam's lead to 7-4, but a goal from DelGaudio and two from Hooker evened the score at 6:31. The tie was short-lived as Simmons put Potsdam in front for good just seven seconds later. The Bears closed the half with two of the final three goals and lead 10-8 at the break.

The second half was much more tightly contested as the defenders limited scoring opportunities. Richards scored two of the half's first three goals with Hooker notching the other and Potsdam led 12-9 with 20:29 to play. There was no scoring for the next 11 minutes before Tornatore ended the drought at 9:15. A minute later Simmons scored the eventual game-winner to reclaim the three-goal advantage. Hooker tallied at 4:48 and senior Brittany Bennett (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown) cut the lead to one on a free position with 1:17 left, but the Hawks would get no closer.

Potsdam junior goalie Kaci Milligan made 10 saves for the win and New Paltz junior Stefanie Mignone (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East) finished with 17 stops. The Bears outshot the Hawks 38-28 and collected 29 groundballs to their opponents' 25.

Potsdam Head Coach Lauren Bruce was pleased with her team's final performance of the year.

"Our energy was high with today being our last home game and the last game for our two seniors,” said Bruce. “Our goal was to win the first five minutes of the game so we could set a tone. I told our four attackers that it would be New Paltz's goal to shut them down, so they needed to play fast and hard for 60 minutes."

The Bears close the season at 5-11 overall and 1-7 in the SUNYAC.