On Sept. 25, the men’s soccer team took on Albertus Magnus College at home for a 3-0 victory for the Hawks.
The Hawks came in ready to play and quickly put away two goals in the first 15 minutes of play. Fourth-year midfielder Coltan Goodwine was the first to score for the Hawks, getting New Paltz on the board with an early lead that they never lost.
“The team played very well against Albertus Magnus College,” Goodwine said. “The defense did a great job of shutting down their two dangerous players that played in attack. Not conceding a goal in a game is always a great takeaway as well.”
“This is the best team I’ve been on in my four years here and I’m extremely excited to play [at the State University of New York Athletic Conference] (SUNYAC) championship with this team,” Goodwine continued.
Next to score for the Hawks was first-year midfielder, Philip Varner, assisted by fellow first-year midfielder Ryan Hilliard. The score remained 2-0 for most of the game, with both teams struggling to find their momentum on offense while the defenses remained airtight.
Heading into the final few minutes of play, second-year defender Spencer Ryczek passed up to second-year forward Ryan Stevens, who found the back of the net for the third goal of the game, and his first goal of the season.
“I thought we did well as a team and found a lot of space to move the ball and possess around the field,” Stevens said. “It was an overall great team effort to pull out the win. It felt great to help the team win and get my first goal this season. I think the game gave us a confidence boost heading into conference play.”
The Hawks’ winning streak came to a sudden halt on Sept. 28, when they went on the road to play Oneonta in what was a 1-0 loss.
The Hawks and the Red Dragons played a highly defensive game until the Red Dragons scored a goal with five minutes left. Unfortunately, the Hawks could not tie the game up. The Hawks and Red Dragons each had an impressive 11 shots for the game, three of which were shots on the goal and third-year goalkeeper Marc DePasquale had two saves.
“I think the team played really well against Oneonta,” DePasquale said. “We defended really well against a really good attacking team and came out with an unfortunate result. Going into the game, I expected it to be tight. We think we can win every game we play, and we kept that mindset going into it.
“To pull out a win [this Friday] against Buffalo State, I think we just need to continue to grow as a team. We have all the talent we need but need to continue to improve our understanding of each other,” DePasquale continued.
The men’s soccer team will play their next game at Buffalo State this Friday at 4 p.m.