New Paltz Women’s Soccer lost their first two SUNYAC matchups on the road against Brockport and Geneseo this past weekend.
The Hawks faced Brockport on Friday, Sept. 24. The game remained close for the first half with the Hawks possessing the ball very well in the middle third of the field, however the Hawks fell behind in the second half after Brockport scored in the 62 minute.
“I thought it was a very box-to-box game. I thought our backline was sound in transition. I thought they did a great job defensively on set pieces today. Overall, I think our mentality leading into the attack needs to reach the next level to obviously create more,” said Coach Mike Eckberg in a post-game interview with Monica D’Ippolito.
Fourth-year captain Cailin Ruoti led the Hawks in shots taken, with three shots on net. First-year Rachel Eisert took two shots and third-years Siena Diaz-Colon and Dana Salinas each took one shot on goal.
“There was a lot of hype heading into the Brockport game as it was the first conference game of the season and since 2019,” said Ruoti. “This energy reflected well into the first half and showed in our pattern of play, defensive mentality, drive to get into the box, and winning 50/50 balls. We showed moments of good, and a few moments of greatness. However, halftime proved to not be in our favor. We were not showing the same level of urgency across the field, especially when it comes to counterattacks. The degree of urgency to finish it and get in the back of the net needs to be greater.”
Less than 24 hours after the loss, the Hawks took the field once again, this time at SUNY Geneseo. The Hawks looked strong throughout the first half, but fell short once again in the long run.
Geneseo scored their first goal of the game in the 25 minute off a counter attack on a Hawk’s corner kick. The breakaway momentarily halted by second-year goalkeeper Kyra Russo but ended up in the back of the net after Geneseo’s Liv Raucci finished the ball off a rebound from the save.
The Hawks were scored on for a second time in the 59 minute off of another counter attack from a corner.
“Both goals scored against us were off counterattacks (our corners) so we need to work on having a better transitional mindset to get back and cut off those balls being played across our backline,” Ruoti said.
The two losses for the Hawks means they have not scored any points in the SUNYAC tournament thus far.
“I think there was a high degree of accountability and a high degree of understanding in not being OK with six points getting taken away from us,” Eckberg said in a post-game interview with D’Ippolito. “I think that that needs to be, whether it’s that additional one percent or an additional 10 percent, the edge that’s needed. We need to understand that that edge needs to be there in order to get a result this upcoming weekend.”
The Hawks will face SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh this coming weekend on Friday, Oct. 1 and Saturday, Oct. 2. The team hopes to earn some points toward their name and have their hard work translate to the box score.
