The State University of New York at New Paltz walked away with a commanding 3-0 win in its latest match against SUNY Purchase Tuesday, and although the Hawks were excited to earn their first win of the season, they feel they can pick up their play this weekend when they go up against SUNY Cobleskill and Utica College.

"[The win] definitely gave us some confidence, but we know we need to work a lot better," said junior right back Brendan McGaley. "It was good to get our first win, but we felt as though we could have done better in that game and we know coming into this weekend we can do a lot better."

Throughout the week, SUNY New Paltz have worked steadily on improving its crosses inside the box and perfecting its runs in the final third of the field. Two factors Hawks coach Kyle Clancy believes will prove pivotal in his team's success this weekend.

"Certain things we've been working on is crossing into the box, whipping in balls, 1-v-1 defending and attacking, transition defense – getting back on D as quick as possible – and being ball hawks, really winning the ball," said McGaley. "To come out 2-0 this weekend we definitely need to come out and play with a fast-tempo, high intensity and be really sharp and crisp with all of our passes, and have really good movement off the ball."

The Hawks are without starting midfielder Coltan Goodwine for a second consecutive game, after the sophomore rolled his ankle against Union on Sept. 2. However, Clancy has confidence in several guys who can step in and produce at that spot while Goodwine is sidelined.

"Guys are going to get injured, so other guys are going to be able to step up and be able to play in different roles," Clancy said. "Kevin [Doorley] who is another freshman, got a chance to step into his shoes at times. Aleco [Podias] is another one that is stepping into his shoes as well. Those three are pretty interchangeable as it is in the system that we play."

First up is SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday, who lost a tight 1-0 battle against Utica College, which SUNY New Paltz will see Sunday.

The Fighting Tigers (0-2) are an athletic group, who are looking for their first win of the season. They've averaged around 13 shots per game, but have scored just once in their two outings.

"The coaches have done a great job over the course of the last couple years, recruiting better players, much more athletic team, so they are going have a good group of athletes," Clancy said. "They've got some crafty individual players and they played Utica tough when I went and watched them. They played down a man and played tough, so I expect both games to be a challenge."

The Pioneers (2-1), meanwhile, are coming off their first loss against Clarkson University Wednesday. They are averaging around a goal per game, while allowing just two goals against this season, which both came against the Golden Knights.

"Utica plays a little bit of a different formation than what we're going to see, so that is going to be a good challenge for us as," Clancy said. "We'll to see how we are going to adapt to that and come up with the right game plan to beat them."

The Hawks will head to Utica College Saturday to face SUNY Cobleskill at 11 a.m., and then they will come back Sunday to take on the hosting Pioneers at 11 a.m. Follow @nphawks on Twitter for live updates of the game.