The State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team has a big test ahead, as it continues State University of New York at New Paltz Conference (SUNYAC) play against visiting Oswego State (3-3-1 overall, 0-1 SUNYAC) and No. 14 SUNY Cortland (7-0-2, 1-0), Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Coming off a heart-breaking 1-0 loss at home against Buffalo State, the Hawks are looking forward to their match against the Lakers, who is searching for their first win in nearly three weeks. SUNY New Paltz played one of their best halves of the season against the Bengals, but could not convert early chances and translate their hot start into the second half of action. Buffalo State made adjustments and out-played the Hawks in the first 20 minutes and despite going down a man with about 10 minutes left in a scoreless game, capitalized on a defensive error and scored the go-ahead goal late to snatch the victory away from the home team. 

"After the Buff State game we had a really good first half, second half wasn't as good, so we talked about staying focused for the entire 90 minutes and making sure we play well the entire time. You can't play a good first half and expect to come out and dominate again as we saw the other day, so we hope we can improve on that," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore goalkeeper Marc DePasquale. "We're still kind of meshing as a unit, but we're definitely growing together and getting better. I think if we just sort out the communication between each other we'll be a lot better and a lot more organized." 

Oswego State, meanwhile, is coming off a tough 4-0 loss against the Red Dragons Sept. 22, before dropping a tight, 1-0, contest to No. 23 Ithaca College Sept. 18. Its last win was Sept. 9 on the road against Utica College, defeating the Pioneers, 1-0.

As a team the Lakers have averaged exactly one goal per game, while giving up just more than a goal against on the year. Ryan Young is Oswego State's only player with more than two goals, while Hassan Musa and Caleb Asamoah follow offensively with a goal and an assist apiece. Brian Terra has started all seven games in net for the Lakers and has totaled 25 saves with a .714 save percentage.

Last season Oswego State finished last in the conference standings, winning just one conference game that came against the Hawks.

"I feel very confident," DePasquale said. "I have a lot of friends and stuff over there. Oswego is a good team and we lost to them last year I think, so we definitely can't take anyone for granted no matter how great of a start we had this year. We have to come out and play like we want to win and get the win."

SUNY Cortland has yet to lose a game. Its only blemishes came in the form of ties against Messiah and Ithaca College. The Red Dragons are on the heels of two dominating performances, scoring nine goals in shutouts against the Lakers and Alfred University.

"Cortland is a very organized team and very [good] attacking team. They come at you at all angles," DePasquale said. "They don't have one option or two options, they have three, four, five options that they can keep coming at you, coming at you, and then when you come at them they are deep. They can keep coming and keep running at you. They have good subs and they're just a good team."

Jake Keller has led the offense, scoring seven goals to go along with two assists for 16 points through the Red Dragons' first nine games. As a team, SUNY Cortland produce on average 2.6 goals per game, while defensively has allowed five goals against all year. Sean Kelley mans starting goalkeeper duties and has made 31 saves with a .861 save percentage and six shutouts thus far. Both Keller and Kelley were recently named as the SUNYAC men's soccer offensive and defensive players of the week.

The Hawks are scheduled to take on Oswego State and SUNY Cortland Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m., respectively, at the South Turf Field. 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.