The State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team enters its final set of games of the season on the road Friday and Saturday, and are aiming to build toward next year, while also playing a little bit of spoilers against its conference rivals.
"I think our mentality this week is just trying to go in and just improve in areas that we've been struggling in," said Hawks coach
Kyle Clancy, whose team will go up against Fredonia State and Buffalo State in their season finale. "We want to be better defending in the box, starting off games better and we're also playing a new formation over the past couple weeks, so can we improve in that formation?"
SUNY New Paltz is coming off a 2-0 loss against No. 7 SUNY Oneonta on Oct. 14, and are looking to gain its first set of back-to-back wins since Sept. 10.
The Hawks will have a tough task against the No. 14 Bengals (12-1-2 overall, 5-0-2 SUNYAC), who already submitted their ticket into the postseason, and the Blue Devils (8-5-2 overall, 2-3-2 SUNYAC), who need a win to help keep their playoff hopes alive.
"Buff State is in the playoffs, but Fredonia is fighting for their playoff spot, so we can definitely play spoiler there," Clancy said. "Not that I have anything against them at all, but it is just a chance to still have an impact on the table, which will be nice."
Fredonia is undefeated in its last three games, earning wins over Oswego State and SUNY Potsdam before battling to a double-overtime 0-0 tie against Plattsburgh State, which defeated SUNY New Paltz 2-0 on Oct. 7.
The Blue Devils are led offensively by Ryan Ross and Pa Lu, who have tallied 14 and 12 points, respectively. Ross and Dave Trabold are tied for the team lead with four goals apiece. Ty Bentham has started all 15 games in net for Fredonia, and has allowed 23 goals while compiling 107 saves with a .823 save percentage.
Meanwhile, Buffalo State is enjoying a five-game winning streak since earning its only two ties of the season, which came in back-to-back games against conference rivals The College at Brockport and Fredonia.
Luke Pavone is the catalyst offensively for the Bengals, as he leads the team in goals (7), assists (5) and points (19) in just 14 starts. Andreas Queen has been stingy in net, allowing just eight goals in 15 starts, which totals to a 0.52 goals against average. He has registered 38 saves and a .826 save percentage with only one loss on the year.
"For the Buffalo State game, they're nationally ranked and it is a great opportunity to play against another great opponent in the conference," Clancy said. "I think the guys will be able to get up for both and hopefully show a good effort."
The Hawks are scheduled to take on the Blue Devils at University Stadium Friday at 3 p.m. and then will cap off their season against Buffalo State Saturday at 1 p.m. on Coyer Field.
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