The State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz women’s soccer team had a tough set of games this weekend, where they faced Buffalo State Bengals on Oct. 4 and the SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils on Oct. 5.
The Hawks took on the Bengals at home in a highly defensive matchup. Both teams remained scoreless and were forced into overtime, where the Bengals managed to kick a shot through the back of the net to take home the victory. Despite having 16 shots, 12 being shots on goal to Fredonia’s six shots, four of which were on goal, the Hawks just could not find their rhythm to get the ball into the net.
After suffering a loss at home to the Bengals, the Hawks had shot to redeem themselves on their home turf against Fredonia. The Hawks wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, and second-year midfielder Cailin Ruoti was the first to score off an assist from first-year forward Ally Donovan at 14:44.
“It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest when I scored against Fredonia this past weekend,” Ruoti said. “Finally, all the hard work that my team and I put in every single day on and off the field was starting to pay off. These past few weeks is the first time I’ve ever played forward in my life, so it was exciting for me to be able to put one in the back of the net.”
Ruoti assisted first year forward Victoria Maffettone, who blew past her defender and fired a shot into the net at 19:30 making it 2-0 Hawks.
“I am enjoying my first year on the team,” Maffettone said. “We all bond really well together and we have a really good team dynamic. I love playing at this higher level and the SUNYAC is so competitive that every game is a new challenge.”
Maffettone went on to say that last weeks games provided motivation for the team to work hard in practices this week and prepare for their upcoming games against Cortland and Oswego this weekend.
Fredonia bounced back and scored twice in the second half, forcing the game into two periods of overtime with the game ending in a dead heat, 2-2.
“We ended the game in a tie but if we can find that determination again this weekend and maintain it throughout the whole 90 minutes, we will finish the weekend with two wins,” said third-year forward Kaitlyn Connolly.
Next up, the Hawks take on Cortland on Oct. 11 at the South Turf Field. “Cortland is a very technical and fit team, but so are we,” Connolly said. “This is the most fit team I’ve been on the past three years playing here and we are a force to be reckoned with.”