It was a tough loss for the State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team in its home opener against Vassar College Wednesday. But the Hawks are looking to turn the 3-2 loss in to motivation going forward, starting with King's College on Saturday.
 
"I know they are a very good program," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore defender James Hennessy. "I know a few kids that are going there right now, so it will be a good test for us for SUNYACS. So I'm really excited to get back and improve upon what happened on Wednesday."
 
The Hawks (3-3) won three in a row before falling to the Brewers, defeating SUNY Purchase on Sept. 5 and then SUNY Cobleskill and Utica College this past weekend to clinch the Utica Tournament victory. They handily earned the win against all three opponents, combining for a score of 11-1.
 
SUNY New Paltz took that momentum into the start of its outing against Vassar, dominating the first half of action. However, the Hawks could not adapt to Vassar's adjustments at the break and conceded three unanswered goals resulting in their third loss of the season.
 
"Going into our next game I think we need to improve on just sticking to the game plan," Hennessy said. "I think we definitely did that this past weekend [at the Utica Tournament] and in the first half [against Vassar], but going into the second half we kind of got away from what worked in the first half. So I think just improving on sticking to the game plan that coach gives us, and making adjustments will help us on Saturday."
 
The Hawks have had a balanced attack thus far, with 10 different players registering at least two points through six games. But it has been the play of freshman Kevin Doorley that has stood out, as the Pearl River native leads the team with seven points (two goals, three assists), including a goal and an assist against the Brewers.
 
Defensively, SUNY New Paltz has allowed an average six shots and one goal against per game, while registering two shut outs this season.
 
"I think we can improve immensely," Hennessy said. "I think just on the ball defensively we can improve in every area, individually, as a team, I think there's a lot of things we can improve on [and] work on things that have worked so far this season."
 
The Monarchs head into the match up at 2-2, winning two of their last three. They've averaged about two goals a contest, while giving up a goal against per game. Freshman forward Liam McLoughlin is King's leading scorer, tallying six goals in four starts. 

The Hawks are set to face King's College Saturday at 1 p.m. on the South Turf. Follow @nphawks on Twitter for live updates and highlights.