The State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz women’s soccer team started the weekend off with a tough loss, but finished their last home game of the season as winners.
On Friday, Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. the Hawks welcomed SUNY Cortland to the South Turf Field for what would be a difficult match. Within the first forty seconds of the match, the Red Dragons attempted to score, showing their aggression right away, but the shot was wide.
Cortland’s second-year midfielder Ro Hernandez scored the first goal of the game at 19:21, assisted by second-year forward Jaden Galluzzo. New Paltz attempted to recover with shots from first-year forward Ally Donovan and third-year midfielder Taylor Filippone, but were unable to tie it up.
In the second half, Cortland scored three more times, shutting New Paltz out 4-0. The unfortunate loss brought the Hawks’ record to 3-7-2 overall and 0-3-1 in the SUNY Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).
Despite the loss, the Lady Hawks were ready to get back into action against the Oswego Lakers the next day on Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. It was a special day for the Hawks, as they celebrated their last home game of 2019 and recognized the fourth-year players for Senior Day.
Defense was strong for both teams. The Lakers shot 10 times, eight of them on goal. In the first period, Hawks’ third-year goalkeeper Megan Tornatore saved six shots. Tornatore’s dominance continued in the second half, saving Oswego’s last two shots at 54:43 and 58:59. New Paltz shot nine times, six of them on net, yet it took going into overtime (OT) for the fourth time this season to finally put a number on the board.
Less than two minutes after she re-entered the game, fourth-year midfielder Alex Wild scored the only goal of the match at 94:34. It was her fourth goal of the season, but her last at home field for her collegiate career.
“It was really exciting to get a win on senior day,” Wild said. “We’ve been working so hard all year and everyone who stepped on the field put everything they had into that game. Scoring that goal in overtime and the whole team running to hug each other after was an amazing feeling.”
The win brought the Hawks to a record of 4-7-2 overall and 1-3-1 in the SUNYAC.
When asked about goals for the rest of the season, the star of OT said she wants to win and have fun.
“I have a few games left and I plan on leaving it all on the field. [I’ll] work as hard as possible and hope it’s enough to get the points we need to get to the conference tournament,” Wild said.
Finishing a long stretch at home, the Hawks will head on the road for the next four games, starting with Geneseo on Friday, Oct. 18 at 3 p.m.
