The State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team is coming off one of its biggest regular season wins in program history after handily defeating previously undefeated No. 14 SUNY Cortland at home Sept. 29, 5-1. With the victory, the Hawks are in prime position to gain ground atop the conference standings with The College at Brockport and SUNY Geneseo visiting for their annual match-ups.

"Cortland was definitely a big win, but we're just focusing on moving on from that," said SUNY New Paltz senior goalkeeper John Guzzo. "It was one game. We have nine games in conference play. Obviously beating Cortland is a very big win, but we got to focus on the next week and get two wins this week away at Brockport and Geneseo." 

After two wins over the weekend against the Red Dragons and Oswego State, the Hawks sit at 3-1 in the State University of New York Conference (SUNYAC) and 8-3 overall. The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, are leading the conference with a perfect 4-0 SUNYAC record, only with two losses all season, which came against Ithaca College and Rochester Institute of Technology.

The College at Brockport (9-2 overall) defeated SUNY New Paltz last season, 3-2 en route to earning the fourth seed in the SUNYAC playoffs.

This year, the Golden Eagles, coming off a pair of 1-0 victories over Fredonia State and Buffalo State, are averaging nearly three goals per game, while conceding just one goal against. Jeff Hibbard (six goals, four assists) and Ayub Jeylani (seven goals, two assists) lead the team offensively with 16 points apiece. Tautis Poniskaitis, who recently was awarded SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Week, has started all 11 games in goal, totaling 33 saves with a .767 save percentage.

"I've always had a tough time my previous three years with Brockport, but we just want to take it like any other game," Guzzo said. "If we play our best I think we can beat any team in this conference and in the nation. We just have to play our best and focus game by game. First Brockport and then the next day we'll focus on Geneseo. Mainly, I just think if we keep doing what we're doing and stay focused throughout this week of practice we should have a good shot at beating them."

SUNY Geneseo (3-4-3 overall, 1-2-1 SUNYAC) is coming off two double overtime matches against the Bengals and Blue Devils, resulting in a 1-1 tie and 1-0 loss, respectively. It was the team's fifth double overtime game of the season, as its only SUNYAC win came in an extra-time match up with SUNY Potsdam with the Knights earning a 1-0 victory.
  As a team, SUNY Geneseo has scored just nine goals all year, but has allowed only six to average less than a goal against per game. Austin DeRidder leads the team offensively with two goals and an assist, as no other player has more than one goal or assist through 10 games.

Liam Dole (four starts) and Dillion Medd (five starts) have each seen time in net. Dole has totaled 15 saves with a .833 save percentage and a 2-1 record, while Medd has made 35 saves, also with a .833 save percentage and a 1-3 record.

"The confidence is very high right now with this group," Guzzo said. "Once again, we just want to take it day by day. Cortland is done with now. We beat them and we're just focusing on each day of practice."

For the Hawks, Kevin Doorley continues to lead not only the team, but also the conference offensively. He paces the league in assists (6) and points (24), while is tied for the league lead in goals (9). However, over the weekend it was freshman Ryan Stevens who was the offensive catalyst for SUNY New Paltz, as the Port Washington native scored four goals and an assist in the two victories and earned a SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Week nod after his breakout performances.

Defensively, the Hawks have allowed just one goal per game, including three goals against in SUNYAC play. Sophomore goalkeeper Marc DePasquale has stepped in nicely for incumbent Guzzo, who has missed the last four games due to a groin injury. DePasquale is 7-2 thus far with 23 saves and a .767 save percentage.

"Marc has come in and has been very confident," Guzzo said. "He looks good in the net, obviously you can tell with him we're 3-1 in the conference already. He has a good defense in front of him and the rest of the team is playing well with him."

SUNY New Paltz is set to hit the road and take on The College at Brockport Friday at 4 p.m. and then SUNY Geneseo Saturday at 1 p.m.

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