Interactive BracketNEW PALTZ, N.Y. – After winning its fourth-straight State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title with a 4-1 win over SUNY Cortland on Saturday, Nov. 7 in the SUNYAC title game, the State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team will host Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) champion Simmons College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at the North Turf Field at 1:30 p.m. This is the first time in history any team from SUNY New Paltz has hosted an NCAA game.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP: The Hawks enter the match with a 15-5 mark on the season and have won their last two… The Sharks have a 14-4 mark on the season and have won their last five… This is the first time in history that the Hawks and Sharks will faceoff… New Paltz is led by seventh-year head coach
Shanna Vitale (85-57 overall)… Simmons College is led by sixth-year head coach Amanda Maxwell (59-54 overall).
TICKETING INFORMATION: Adult tickets to the event are $6, while children 12 and under, students (with ID) and senior citizens are $3.
NEW PALTZ HAWKS (15-5)SUNYAC TITLES: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 (4)
NCAA APPERANCES: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 (4)
NCAA RECORD: 2-3
REACHING THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Hawks were the No. 2 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament and defeated No. 1 seed Cortland in the title game… Senior midfielder
Dani Ackerman tied the game at 1-1 in the 41st minute for her fifth goal of the season, and was named Tournament MVP… Freshman forward
Serena Capsello scored two goals in the match, one at the 44th minute to give the Hawks the lead and one at the 63rd minute to make it a 4-1 game… Sophomore midfielder
Hayley Kim scored her second goal of the season at the 56th minute… Senior back
Jessica Caruana and sophomore forward
Sam Eberle each tallied an assist… Senior goalkeeper
Alayna Wageman made nine stops in the cage… Ackerman, Caruana, Wageman, senior back
Sarah Sansone and junior forward
Kayla McKeveny were named to the All-Tournament Team.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS: New Paltz is 9-1 at home this season… The Hawks have played three other teams selected to the NCAA Tournament this year… New Paltz lost to the University of Rochester 3-1 on Sept. 12… New Paltz defeated Stevens Institute of Technology 4-1 on Oct. 7… New Paltz lost to William Smith College 4-1 on Oct. 10… The Hawks have earned four All-SUNYAC selections this season as Ackerman and Caruana were named First Team honorees, while McKeveny and junior back
Colleen Roemer were named to the Second Team… Following the title game, Ackerman and Caruana were named the SUNYAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively… Vitale was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Six Hawks have double-digit point totals on the season… Junior forward
Kayla McKeveny is tops with 27… Caruana is right behind her with 26… Freshman forward
Rachel McLaughlin, Ackerman, junior forward
Erin Landy and Kim have point totals of 14, 14, 13 and 12, respectively… McKeveny leads the team with 12 goals… Caruana is second on the team with 9 goals… Kim and Caruana are tops with eight assists… Landy and McLaughlin have six goals each… Ackerman has five goals… Ackerman leads the team with 89 shots… Wageman is 13-5 with a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.15, a .850 save percentage, 113 saves and four shutouts.
TEAM STATISTICS: The Hawks have outshot opponents 431-225 and have outscored them 54-22… New Paltz holds a 300-156 shots-on-goal advantage… New Paltz attempted 262 penalty corners and allowed just 124… The Hawks have outscored their opponent 24-12 in the first half and 30-10 in the second half.
LAST YEAR IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: New Paltz defeated Keene State College last year in the first round by a score of 6-3… Caruana, Landy, McKeveny, and Eberle each tallied a goal… Then-seniors
Alex Gallo and
Deirdre O'Neill also scored a goal each… The Hawks then fell to No. 4 The College of New Jersey in the second round by a score of 4-0.
SIMMONS COLLEGE SHARKS (14-4)GNAC TITLES: 2015, 2014 (2)
NCAA APPERANCES: 2015, 2014 (2)
NCAA RECORD: 0-1
REACHING THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Sharks were the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Tournament and defeated No. 2 seed Saint Joseph's College 1-0 in the title game… This is the second-straight GNAC title for the Sharks… Junior forward Jenna Gagnon scored the lone goal in the game and was named Tournament MVP for the second year in a row… Sophomore forward Julie Saltamartini was credited with an assist on Gagnon's goal and fired off two shots… Senior midfielder Amy Cronin, junior midfielder Amy Wilson and junior forward Madeline Koufos fired off a shot each… Junior goalkeeper Brianna Rastello made three stops in the cage… Gagnon, Saltamartini, Cronin, senior back Alexia Malone Oliver and sophomore back Maizy Wagner were all named to the All-Tournament Team.
SCOUTING THE SHARKS: Simmons College is 7-4 on the road this season… The Sharks faced one other team selected to the NCAA Tournament this year… Simmons College lost to Mount Holyoke 1-0 on Oct. 8… Saltamartini, Wagner, Cronin, Oliver, and Wilson were named to the GNAC First-Team while Gagnon and junior midfielder Hailey Bruno-Moulton were named to the GNAC Second-Team… Junior midfielder Robin Powell was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team… Saltamartini and Wagner were named GNAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Six Sharks have double-digit point totals this season… Saltamartini leads the team with 37, while sophomore forward Sammy Rondeau is second with 23 points… Gagnon, junior forward Jillian Mercer, Cronin, and freshman forward Missy Maiewski have point totals of 18, 12, 10, and 10, respectively… Saltamartini leads the team with 17 goals… Rondeau is second with nine goals… Cronin and Gagnon each lead the team with six assists… Saltamartini is tops on the team with 64 shots, while Gagnon is second with 54… Rastello is 14-4 with a GAA of 0.72, a .797 save percentage, 47 saves and eight shutouts.
TEAM STATISTICS: The Sharks have outshot opponents 325-105 and outscored them 58-12… Simmons College holds a 216-66 shots-on-goal advantage… The Sharks are managing 3.2 goals-per game, a 0.2 shot percentage and an 18.1 shots-per game mark.
LAST YEAR IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: In its NCAA Tournament debut, Simmons College lost to the University of New England 2-0 in the first round… Gagnon, Powell and Saltamartini each fired off a shot… Wilson tallied a defensive save… Rastello made 13 stops in the cage.
WHAT'S NEXT: The winner of this match will travel to Ewing, N.J., to take on Messiah College in the second round on Saturday, Nov. 14.
