The women’s soccer team looks to bounce back this upcoming weekend against State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) rivals The College at Brockport and SUNY Geneseo after dropping its first two conference matches against SUNY Oswego and SUNY Cortland this past weekend.
The Hawks fell to 4-6 overall, with the losses, but remain confident moving forward.
“We’re all looking ahead and have moved on from last weekend,” head coach Mike Eckberg said. “That’s the mentality we want to have. We have to look forward and we have plenty of opportunities that lay ahead, so we have to make the most of them.”
New Paltz will first travel to Brockport on Friday, Sept. 29 then head south to Geneseo for a match the following day. The Golden Eagles currently hold an overall record of 6-2-1 and went 1-1 in the first weekend of SUNYAC play. The Knights are an undefeated 7-0-1, including two conference victories from last weekend. Geneseo will host Oneonta prior to their game against New Paltz.
“Last week happened and we can only learn from it which I believe we did,” Hawks fourth-year midfielder Nicole Ferro said. “This weekend we are looking to start off Brockport the way we ended the last 10 minutes in the game against Oswego. As a team we are all about setting the tempo and if we come out strong and score early we will send a message to Brockport and the rest of the teams in SUNYAC. I’m excited to see how we respond coming off last weekend. ”
The Hawks began last weekend with a 3-1 loss at home against Oswego on Friday, Sept. 22.
The game remained scoreless for most of the first half until Lakers first-year midfielder Lynsey Roth found the back of the net in the 44th minute to make it 1-0 at halftime.
Oswego tacked on two more goals in the second half, including Roth’s second of the game.
New Paltz got on the board at the 84:27 mark when fourth-year midfielder Nicole Ferro shot a ball off the crossbar that snuck past second-year goalkeeper Emma Allen to make it a 3-1 game. Unfortunately, New Paltz didn’t score again and the score held.
The following day, the Hawks fell to Cortland 4-0. New Paltz has not defeated the Red Dragons since the 2011 SUNYAC Tournament Championship match.
“Despite the scores, I was very pleased with how we played against Oswego and Cortland,” Eckberg said. “We continued to try to establish a tempo and did not let it drop. That speaks a lot about the character on this team. If we continue to do that, it will pay off in a nail bitter that we may encounter later this season.”