After falling to SUNY Geneseo in a tough 1-0 loss in last season's SUNYAC Tournament semifinals, the State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team looks to get back to its championship ways when it travels to SUNY Oneonta for the conference semifinals Wednesday.

"We are looking forward to playing Oneonta on Wednesday," Hawks head coach Shanna Szablinski said. "For us, it's about executing our set plays, second effort and capitalizing on our opportunities in the circle. Our team realizes we need to play with grit and challenge each other to give our very best."

The Hawks enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed, while the Red Dragons hold the No. 2 seed. No. 1 seed SUNY Cortland will host No. 4 seed SUNY Geneseo that day as well. The winner of each match will meet for the finals on Saturday, Nov. 4.

SUNY New Paltz hosted SUNY Oneonta earlier this season, and lost by a score of 4-1 back on Sept. 27. Senior Natalie Longo, junior Allyson Wells and freshmen Grace Bilow and Colleen Geyer all scored goals for the Red Dragons. Senior Justine O'Reilly notched the Hawks' lone goal of the contest. Senior Megan Gangewere made 10 stops in the cage, while her opposition sophomore Danell Jones recorded 11 saves.

"Collectively, we've improved as a team since the last time we saw Oneonta," O'Reilly said. "But, what we have realized is that whoever shows up on game day is going to come out with the win. We are aware that we have all the tools necessary to win, we just need to show up and play balls out for 70 minutes and I'm confident that we will move on to the championship game."

This marked SUNY New Paltz's first loss to Oneonta since 2014. That season, the Hawks beat the Red Dragons on the road by a score of 3-2 in the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Tournament.

These two teams have met two many times in the tournament, with SUNY New Paltz coming out on top 3-1 in 2012's semifinals and SUNY Oneonta winning 3-2 in 2011's first round.

The Hawks boast 10 newcomers who get their first taste of collegiate playoff hockey. Although some may consider this a disadvantage, Gangewere disagrees.

"Having a young team just feeds into the excitement of playoffs," she said. "We have older girls that have been through this before and are willing to do anything for a championship, while the young ones that are excited for their first shot at a title."

 New Paltz (6-11, 4-2 SUNYAC)
The Hawks are fourth in the conference with 45 goals scored and have allowed 50 goals this season.

O'Reilly leads the SUNYAC with 17 goals and 43 points and is second with nine assists. Junior Serena Capsello is second on the team with nine goals, while senior Hayley Kim is tied for fourth in the conference with seven assists. Junior Samantha Ackerman and freshman Carly Croteau each have six goals and one assist, while sophomore Kaitlyn Gunter has four goals and three assists. Ackerman also leads the SUNYAC with six defensive saves. Gangewere's 201 saves are second in the conference and her .801 save percentage is the second-lowest.

SUNY New Paltz concluded its regular season with a 7-3 road loss to Vassar College on Oct. 28. Capsello notched two goals on the day, while O'Reilly scored the other. Gangewere tallied eight saves in the loss.

While playing on the road was not the ideal scenario for the Hawks, O'Reilly explained that the team is prepared for the challenge.

"Unfortunately, the bus ride to Oneonta isn't the best," she said. "But coach always leaves enough time on away trips for us to get off the bus and move around before we have to focus in and start warming up, so I'm not worried about having to travel this week. Playing at Oneonta wasn't what we wanted, but we are more than capable of showing up and playing our best anywhere we need to, regardless of the field or where we are traveling too."

Gangewere agreed that the location of the match is not what's important.

"We played our opening games this season at Oneonta's field, so we know what that turf is like," she said. "It doesn't matter to us where we play in order to be successful."

Oneonta (13-5, 5-1 SUNYAC)
The Red Dragons have scored the third-most goals in the SUNYAC with 59, and they have allowed the second-fewest goals with 19.

Wells is the top scorer for SUNY Oneonta, as she is tied for fifth in the conference with 12 goals and 30 points and is ranked seventh in assists with six. Senior Sierra Palmatier leads the Red Dragons and is tied for fourth in the SUNYAC with seven assists. Senior Nicole Johnston is another threat on offense, as she boasts 11 goals and two assists. Jones has the second-lowest goals against average in the conference with a 1.22 mark, while her .795 save percentage is third-lowest. She has also collected 70 saves this season.

In its regular season finale on Oct. 28, SUNY Oneonta lost 1-0 in a double overtime shootout to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Jones made nine saves in 115 scoreless minutes before allowing the game-winning goal.

The Hawks also played RPI recently, and won 5-1 back on Oct. 25.

"At this point, it doesn't matter who has the best record," Szablinski said. "What matters most is who shows up to play and who capitalizes on their opportunities."