The State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team is coming off one of its biggest regular season wins in program history Saturday, taking down perennial power and defending State University of New York Conference (SUNYAC) champions SUNY Cortland.

The win left the Hawks (7-4 overall, 3-0 SUNYAC) tied atop of the conference standings with Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Geneseo — the latter SUNY New Paltz will face Saturday. 

"Coming off a huge win against Cortland we've been working super hard in practice to make sure we're ready to play Geneseo, because they are also an amazing team," said Hawks freshman goalkeeper Ryan Dowling. "I think it is going to be huge, because if we can get the one-seed then we'll be able to play here during playoffs and that is going to be great to have our family and our friends come support on our home turf."

Along with defeating the Red Dragons, SUNY New Paltz knocked off Oswego State, 3-0 Friday. Carly Croteau and Samantha Ackerman led the Hawks over the weekend, combining for two goals and four assists with Ackerman coming away with a well-deserved SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Week award after not only pacing the Hawks offensively, but also helping the defense give up just a goal against.

"Defensively we've been playing really well," said Dowling, who combined for nine saves in the two wins. "I've been super proud of them, because everyone's been working super hard in practice and to make sure that we're getting strong clears."

The Knights (7-3, 3-0) head into the weekend averaging more than three goals per game, but have scored 20 goals in their three SUNYAC victories. Defensively they've shut out all conference opponents (Morrisville State, Brockport, Oswego) thus far and are giving up just one goal against on the year. Senior Gabriella Clare leads the team with eight goals and three assists, followed by freshman Grace Dempsey who has totaled five goals and an assist on the season. 

The Golden Eagles (4-8, 1-2) meanwhile, are coming off a 2-1 loss against Houghton College Oct. 5, but have split their last four games with wins over Morrisville State and Wells College. Their two SUNYAC losses have come against Oswego State, 4-3, and SUNY Geneseo, 5-0. 

The team has scored around two goals per game and has given up more than two against. Sophomore Katie Ziemba is the catalyst offensively for The College at Brockport with a team-high seven goals to go along with three assists, while freshman Katelynn Mello follows with three goals and team-leading seven assists. Adriana DeDie has started all 12 games for the Golden Eagles and has made 72 saves for a .713 save percentage. 

"We watched film on Brockport [Monday], so we know a little bit about their defense and how they play," Dowling said. "We can take advantage of their goalkeeper, their defenders and how they set up."

SUNY New Paltz is set to face the Golden Eagles Friday at 4 p.m. and then will take on SUNY Geneseo Saturday at 1 p.m. To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.