The Men’s Soccer team’s 2010 season officially ended last Wednesday as the team battled through a 0-0 tie with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The team finished the season with a 8-9-1 record, and just missed making the SUNYAC playoffs.
Over the course of the season, the Hawks experienced many up and down games, including a three game losing streak and multiple two game winning streaks.
“It was a good season,” said Head Coach Eric Watson. “We played one of the best schedules in the region and got some good results along the way.”
However, the Hawks finished with the most wins the program has had since they held a 12-10 record in 2004.
“The season as a whole was a complete disappointment,” Captain Tommy Garafola said. “I thought we could do some serious damage in our conference but, due to many unlucky plays and what seemed to be every bounce going against us, the season ended sooner than we all would have liked.”
Despite the early exit for the Hawks, the team had bright spots that Garafola hopes will help the team in the future.
One of these bright spots, according to Garafola, was the defense the team displayed over the course of the season.
The Hawks only let up 18 goals over their 18 game schedule, something that Garafola said was the difference between a win that would have been a tie or loss in other years.
Despite their strong defense, the Hawks’ biggest obstacle was their ability to score.
“Even though we created a lot of chances, we struggled to score a lot of goals in critical matches,” Watson said.
Garafola agreed with Watson, saying that he believed the team needed to take advantage of opportunities and not allow their opponents to stay in the game.
“We often outplayed teams but weren’t scoring goals to knock them out of the game,” Garafola said.
The Hawks’ season looked to be heading down the wrong path in early October as they dropped three straight league games, but the team battled back to put themselves into the playoff picture and a must-win game against SUNY Cortland on Oct. 23.
After holding Cortland scoreless and outshooting them 19-3 in the first 45 minutes, the Hawks seemed to be in control of the game. However, in the 88th minute Cortland scored and effectively ended the Hawks season.
Despite the nail-biting and crushing end to their season, the Hawks are looking forward.
“I have high hopes and expectations for my team next year,” Garafola said. “My teammates are extremely talented and capable of winning and I believe next year will be different.”