Box Score New Paltz, NY – Before the State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team knew, it was down 2-0 to The College at Brockport Saturday.
 
The visiting Golden Eagles (6-2-2 overall, 2-0-1 SUNYAC) scored two goals within the first 10 minutes of the match, forcing the Hawks (4-6 overall, 0-3 SUNYAC) to play from behind the rest of the way. SUNY New Paltz showed its resiliency, cutting the deficit to a goal twice down the stretch but it still wasn't enough to pull out the victory.
 
"Anytime you go down two-nil in the first 10-15 [minutes] it is a punch in the mouth," said Hawks assistant coach Scott Zobre following the 3-2 defeat. "The boys did well to respond. They fought hard. We made some changes, those worked for a while and then we got one back, which was good. And then we let our guard down one more time and that really killed the game off."
 
Brockport started the game fast, and quickly got the ball in the Hawks' 18-yard box. SUNY New Paltz had trouble clearing the cross, as the ball deflected off two players before it trickled out just outside the box to Jason Hayes, who one-timed a lofted shot over the head of Hawks goalkeeper John Guzzo (two saves) for the goal.
 
"You don't know how you're going to start the match. We just said that we had a feeling that we needed a lot of energy because we knew New Paltz was going to come out," said Golden Eagles coach Gary LiPietra. "But we were confident early. We scored a couple nice goals and then in the second half we were on our heels quite a bit. They played well in the second half."
 
Brockport continued to put pressure on SUNY New Paltz following the early score and took advantage of their speed up top. Hayes played a perfectly placed ball over the top of the Hawks' back line to Quintin Volpe, who found himself 1-v-1 with Guzzo. Volpe floated his shot over the head of the senior to push the Golden Eagles' lead 2-0, which stood until halftime.
 
After a lack-luster first half, SUNY New Paltz came out and dominated play in the following 45 minutes. It took just two minutes into the second half before the Hawks cut the score.
 
Ryan Martinez played a pass into Kevin Doorley atop of the box, and the freshman did the rest of the work. Doorley dribbled through defenders and placed his shot neatly into the far corner past Brockport goalkeeper Joseph Romano (three saves) to cut the score, 2-1.
 
"The good news is we didn't lose our resolve," Zobre said. "We got another one back and kept pushing. We showed some heart, but we got to start learning how to grind out and win these close games."
 
The Hawks pressed numbers forward and controlled the tempo for most of the half, but the Golden Eagles took advantage of their opportunities they had.
 
They caught SUNY New Paltz on a counter attack midway through the second half. Volpe ran onto the ball and found some space at the edge of the six to turn and play a lofted cross to Russell Hines waiting back post. Hines got a head on the pass and knocked in the goal far post for the score, which ultimately proved pivotal in the final result.
 
But the two-goal deficit didn't deter the Hawks' rally. They went back to midfield, determined to find another goal and six minutes later tallied one more.
 
SUNY New Paltz earned a corner, which Doorley placed perfectly inside the 18 that found the head of Sebastian Gordon-Somers-Archer. The junior captain knocked his attempt in the back of the net to register his third goal of the season, and cut the deficit to one. But ultimately, the Hawks couldn't put away the game-tying score and took their third conference loss of the season.



 "Credit to them, they played a great second half. We knew we needed a third goal. We even told them at half," LaPietra said. "I knew they were going to come out a little more intense, and press us higher, which they did. We made a mistake, let a guy open in the back and they scored a nice goal. But yeah, the third goal was key. It took the pressure off us just a little bit, but they scored another one. It was a tough match."
  
It was a physical game, as predicted, totaling 20 fouls between the two teams. SUNY New Paltz earned 10 set pieces inside their offensive half, including four corners in the game. Each team also put five shots on target, with the Golden Eagles holding he edge in total shots, 12-10.
 
The Hawks will look to bounce-back Saturday when it hosts SUNY Geneseo for a 1 p.m. game.
 
"There were some good points to it. Overall it was a good effort. Obviously, not enough to get the result we wanted though," Zobre said. "Good news is that we only have one night to sleep on it and we can get a win tomorrow. Like I said, we need to learn how to win the close games and find a way to get the result, and get the points."
 
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