It was a disappointing weekend for the The State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz women’s soccer team.
The Lady Hawks were on the road to face their final SUNY Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) competitors of the season: Plattsburgh on Oct. 25 at 3 p.m., and Potsdam on Oct. 26 at 1 p.m.
Going into Friday’s match, the Hawks held a 4-9-1 record overall and 1-5-1 record in the SUNYAC. The Cardinals proved early on they were ready to bring their A-Game when second-year forward Allison Seidman shot on target at 8:27. Just over a minute later, the 2018 SUNYAC Rookie of the Year attempted to score again, but this time her shot was saved by Hawks’ third-year goalkeeper Megan Tornatore.
The Hawks were not ready to give up, knowing the match was a must-win situation in order to have a chance at playing the conference tournament. Within the first half, the ladies shot six times, two of them on goal. Despite the offensive efforts, the Hawks were unable to find the back of the net.
In the second half, the Cardinals shot 12 times, but 10 of them were wide. The other two were saved by Tornatore and blocked. As for New Paltz, the moment of truth came in the 74th minute, when third-year forward Sky Pedroza attempted to score. At first, it was believed Pedroza was successful and tied the game, but after a controversial offsides call, the goal was taken off of the scoreboard. This was beyond disappointing for New Paltz, especially seeing as Plattsburgh did not score for the rest of the game. Had the match continued into overtime, the Hawks may have had a better chance, with their overtime record being one win, two ties and just one loss this season.
The unsatisfying loss wrenched hopes of playoff contention for the Hawks. Regarding the Cardinals, the win means they will be joining Geneseo, Cortland and Brockport with a spot in the SUNYAC playoffs.
There was only one more team to face to finish off the conference schedule, SUNY Potsdam. Hawks’ third-year forward/midfielder Jessica Levinson scored her first goal of the season and the first goal of the game, unassisted at 28:51. The Hawks held their lead in the second half, until Bears’ third-year forward/midfielder Lexi Dean scored at 62:59. Just about six minutes later, Dean scored her second goal of the game, bringing the Bears to a 2-1 lead that the Hawks could not come back from.
The match was a battle of the shots. By the end of the game, New Paltz shot 12 times, eight on goal. Potsdam shot 19 times with nine on goal. Both teams had seven saves, five corner kicks and four fouls.
The loss dropped the Hawks to 4-11-2 overall and 1-7-1 in the SUNYAC.
Even though the weekend didn’t go exactly the way the ladies wanted, undoubtedly there is a lot to be proud of this season. It’s hard to forget the tremendous 9-0 shutout New Paltz had against Old Westbury for their first home game of the season, or the exhilarating overtime win on senior day. The women should take this time to relax and rejuvenate themselves, and come back next year ready to clinch another SUNYAC Championship win.
