Box Score CORTLAND, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team won its fourth consecutive State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title on Saturday at SUNY Cortland's Stadium White, defeating the host Red Dragons, 4-1, in the SUNYAC Tournament final.
With the victory, second-seeded New Paltz rises to 15-5 overall and earns the SUNYAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The full bracket will be announced on Sunday evening. The Hawks will be making their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Top-seeded Cortland ends its season at 14-5.
Senior midfielder
Dani Ackerman (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) was named the SUNYAC Tournament MVP, while senior goalkeeper
Alayna Wageman (Getzville, N.Y./Williamsville North), junior forward
Kayla McKeveny (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) and senior backs
Sarah Sansone (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and
Jessica Caruana (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) joined her on the All-Tournament Team. Senior midfielder Jillian Vogl, sophomore back Meg Redmond and senior midfielder/back Sara O'Brien made the All-Tournament Team for Cortland.
Similar to their game against SUNY Geneseo in the semifinal round, the Hawks found themselves down, 1-0, at halftime. This time, however, New Paltz poured on four goals in the second half instead of two to emerge with the come-from-behind win.
Sophomore midfielder/back Megan O'Brien opened scoring in the ninth minute, cashing in on a rebounded shot by senior forward Brittany Murphy. While the Hawks had several opportunities to net the equalizer in the first half and controlled the tempo for portions of the period, the Red Dragons entered halftime with a slim 1-0 advantage.
Ackerman leveled the tally just 5:42 into the second half, as she dribbled the ball in from the right side and slotted a shot into the right-hand side of the cage. Less than three minutes later, freshman forward
Serena Capsello (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) scored on a put-back attempt, collecting a rebound off of a Caruana shot. Following a Cortland timeout, the Red Dragons saw their best scoring chances of the period, taking four shots and two penalty corners in a two-minute stretch.
New Paltz netted an insurance score off a penalty corner in the 56th minute, as sophomore midfielder
Hayley Kim (West Hurley, N.Y./Onteora) deflected in a feed from Caruana, and in the 62nd minute, Capsello scored her second goal of the game off a short cross from sophomore forward
Sam Eberle (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg). Cortland was unable to muster a comeback bid in the late stages of the contest, and New Paltz avenged a loss to the Red Dragons from earlier on in the season with the 4-1 victory.
While the Hawks won decisively, the Red Dragons did hold a slight advantage in both shots (15-13) and penalty corners (7-6).
Wageman made nine saves in the victory for New Paltz, while freshman goalkeeper Kailynne Reinoehl turned aside seven shots in the loss for Cortland.
