Tournament Preview (courtesy of SUNYAC Office)
Live Stats
Live Audio (only if Cortland wins in the 11 a.m. semifinal game)

CORTLAND, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team (8-9, 4-2 SUNYAC) will attempt to reach its first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title game in program history when it takes on SUNY Oneonta (13-6, 4-2 SUNYAC) in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 4, at 1:30 p.m. in Cortland, N.Y. The Hawks earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament after winning their final two conference games of the regular season, and face the No. 2 seed Oneonta who beat them in overtime back on Sept. 16. One of these schools will move on and face the winner of No. 1 SUNY Cortland and No. 4 SUNY Geneseo.

TICKET PRICING: Tickets for Friday's semifinal match are $5 for adults and $2 for students with valid college identification.

STATISTICAL LEADERS: The Hawks are led offensively by senior forward Stacey Miller (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst), who leads the team in points (23) and goals (9), and is tied for the team lead in assists (5) with sophomore defenseman Alyssa Stock (Morris Plains, N.J./Whippany Park). Miller has been one of the more clutch players in the conference, as she is tied for the SUNYAC lead in game-winning goals with four. The Hawks' anchor on the other side of the field is sophomore goalkeeper Antonija Pjetri (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern), who started 17 of the team's 19 contests. Pjetri is fourth among SUNYAC goalkeepers in goals against average (2.08), save percentage (.724), saves (92) and saves per game (5.41).

MORE ON THE LINE THIS YEAR: 2011 marks the first year in which the SUNYAC has an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament. The winner of this weekend's tournament gains the league's automatic bid.

HOPE HISTORY DOESN'T REPEAT ITSELF: With the overtime loss earlier this season, New Paltz dropped to 1-12 all-time against the Red Dragons.  The program's only win against Oneonta came all the way back in 2001, and in the 12 straight defeats suffered by New Paltz since 2001, four of those games went to overtime.

SECOND TIME AROUND: This is the second SUNYAC tournament appearance in Hawks' history in the second season of the tournament. Their run ended last season in an overtime loss to defending champion Cortland in the semifinals.

WINS MILESTONE: The Hawks can tie the school record for wins in a season with a victory over Oneonta on Friday. The current record is nine wins, which was achieved last season. New Paltz can break the school record with two victories this weekend, which would also include a conference title.

ABOUT HEAD COACH SHANNA VITALE: Shanna Vitale is in her third season as head coach of New Paltz's field hockey team and is already the most successful coach in the program's history. In her first season, Vitale led the Hawks to an 8-11 overall record after inheriting a program that went just 3-13 the previous season. In 2010, she followed that up by winning a school-record nine games and taking the Hawks to the SUNYAC tournament. She has a lifetime record of 25-30 as head coach.

SCOUTING THE RED DRAGONS: The Red Dragons enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed, and finished the season with 13 wins overall, the most in the SUNYAC. They are paced offensively by former high-school teammates Ashley Morgan and Megan Warning, who both rank in the top three in total points in the SUNYAC. Goalkeeper Tess Tracy leads the SUNYAC in saves, making 127 on the season, and is second in the SUNYAC with a .756 save percentage.

MATCHUP: This matchup will feature a classic offensive vs. defensive battle. Oneonta is the strongest offensive team in the SUNYAC. The Red Dragons lead the SUNYAC in points (147), shots (309), goals per game (2.95), and assists per game (1.84). On the flip side, New Paltz has done a good job this season in keeping the ball out of their own net as they are third in the conference in goals against average (2.01) and fourth in saves, averaging 6.24 per game.  The key for the Hawks will be slowing down juniors Megan Warning and Ashley Morgan, who are second and third in the conference, respectively, in points. Warning leads the SUNYAC in goals with 18. The contest between these two schools earlier this season needed two overtimes to be settled.