After splitting their last two regular season State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) games over the weekend, the field hockey team will enter the SUNYAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed.
The Hawks will play No. 2 seed SUNY Oneonta on the road in the semifinal round on Wednesday, Nov. 1. The Red Dragons defeated New Paltz by a score of 4-1 back on Sept. 27.
The Hawks will play one last nonconference match between now and their playoff game against Oneonta, and fourth-year midfielder Hayley Kim explained that it will still be a very important match.
“We are taking these last couple of nonconference games very seriously because these games give us the opportunity to make some adjustments,” Kim said. “We are really looking forward to applying the concepts that we are learning in practice to these games. We also want to come away with wins in our last regular season games to help propel us into SUNYACs with confidence.”
On Friday, Oct. 20, the Hawks pulled off a 5-3 victory against SUNY Oswego. The loss eliminated the Lakers from playoff contention, while the win snapped the Hawks’ five-game losing streak.
The victory also marked the 100th career win for head coach Shanna Szablinski.
“It was a huge win for us,” first-year midfielder Carly Croteau said. “We were in a mental funk as a team for a little bit of time. It was a reassuring feeling securing another SUNYAC win. It definitely gave us more hunger for the Cortland game.”
Croteau gave New Paltz a 1-0 lead at the 4:24 mark thanks to an assist from fourth-year forward Justine O’Reilly. Fellow first-year midfielder Sawyer Kessler doubled the Hawks’ lead in the 25th minute with the first goal of her collegiate career.
O’Reilly made it a 3-0 game just before halftime when she scored her first goal since Sept. 27 off a corner from third-year midfielder Samantha Ackerman at the 32:43 mark.
Croteau recorded her second goal of the game, and the first multi-goal game of her collegiate career, in the 48th minute to give New Paltz a 4-0 lead. The Lakers called a timeout following the goal, and then began to rally.
First-year forward Kathleen Little got Oswego on the board at the 49:23 mark off a helper from third-year midfielder Katie Reynolds. Just over a minute later, fourth-year midfielder Monica Harvey made it a 4-2 game thanks to another assist from Reynolds. Reynolds then scored a goal of her own in the 57th minute off a helper from Little to cut the deficit to one.
O’Reilly gave the Hawks some insurance with just over two minutes left in regulation. Second-year forward Kaitlyn Gunter tallied her third assist of the season on the play. But it was not needed, as New Paltz held on for the 5-3 win.
Hawks fourth-year goalkeeper Megan Gangewere registered 10 saves in the victory.
The following day, New Paltz fell to SUNY Cortland by a score of 5-0. The Hawks conclude their regular season with a conference record of 4-2.
Gangewere made 14 stops in the cage and the team recorded 10 shots on goal, but third-year goalkeeper Kailynne Reinoehl saved every one of them to preserve the shutout.
“Cortland is a strong SUNYAC team,” Croteau said. “We had a very enthusiastic warm up which allowed us to come out with a positive mental attitude. Even though the outcome wasn’t exactly what we wanted, it allowed us to take away some things. We recognized that there are some things we still have to fix and we will be continuing to work on them at practice and in the rest our of seasonal schedule play, before leading up to the big game versus Oneonta.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 25 New Paltz beat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 5-1 in their final regular season home match. O’Reilly recorded two goals and two assists, while Ackerman contributed two goals of her own. Gangewere tallied 15 saves in the win.
The Hawks will conclude their regular season when they travel to cross-river rival Vassar College on Saturday, Oct. 28.
before leading up to the big game versus Oneonta.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 25 New Paltz beat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 5-1 in their final regular season home match. O’Reilly recorded two goals and two assists, while Ackerman contributed two goals of her own. Gangewere tallied 15 saves in the win.
The Hawks will conclude their regular season when they travel to cross-river rival Vassar College on Saturday, Oct. 28.