Box Score New Paltz, NY – Down 1-0 early against visiting Oswego State Friday, the State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team needed a spark to get itself back in the game. And on cue, in stepped freshmen
Spencer Ryczek,
Ryan Stevens and
Nicholas Honor off the bench to provide the game-tying score, which propelled a four unanswered-goal run to help the Hawks earn a 4-1 come-back victory over the Lakers.
"It's great to see the young guys come in and making a difference in conference games," said Hawks coach
Scott Zobre. "I mean, that can only mean better things moving forward in the conference play this year and eventually going further in further years... The boys were connecting well. Everyone that came in really kept the game elevated, played at a high level and it was good to watch the guys play together and get a win."
Although SUNY New Paltz (7-3 overall, 2-1 SUNYAC) held possession for the opening 10 minutes or so, earning a corner kick and another set piece opportunity within their attacking half, it was Oswego State (3-4-1, 0-2) which struck first.
Jack Van Pelt played a through ball that split the Hawks' middle of their defense. The pass found the feet of Caleb Asamoah, who took a touch into the box, found himself one-v-one with goalkeeper
Marc DePasquale (two saves), and slotted his shot into the net.
The goal swung momentum to the Lakers who started building more confidence on the ball and earned more chances within the Hawks' defensive third of the field. But, just before the half the Hawks' managed to tie up the score.
Ryczek won a ball on SUNY New Paltz's defensive end and then used his speed to get the edge on his defender. Ryczek then sent a solid pass down the sideline to Stevens who was making a run. Stevens then took a touch and sent a beautiful cross to the back of the six-yard box, which found
Nicholas Honor running in. Honor jumped and got his body on the pass and knocked the ball into the back of the net for his first career goal.
"I saw that their outside back moved up pretty far, so I went down the line," Stevens recalled. "A great ball was played and then I saw Nick running back post and played it to him."
The Hawks kept the same lineup that ended the first half starting in the second and the group carried over their play into the final 45 minutes. SUNY New Paltz continued to press and eventually, in the 60
th minute, their pressure got to the Lakers.
Sebastian Gordon-Somers-Archer won possession in the back for the Hawks and carried the ball until he found Honor on the switch on the left wing. Honor played a leading ball into the box for Stevens, who was making a run on. Stevens was then taken down in the box and earned the penalty kick for his team. He stepped up and buried his attempt top left corner for the go-ahead goal.
"Confidence, you know, that is what you need for a penalty kick," Stevens said. "Had the other team chirping at me. I like it. It kind of helps and you just got to bury it in the right spot."
The penalty kick seemingly opened the flood gates for SUNY New Paltz.
Kevin Doorley doubled down on the Hawks' lead just two minutes after Stevens' score. The sophomore midfielder found some space at the top of the box, took a touch and fired a laser into the left corner for his team-leading eighth goal of the season.
Stevens then added another insurance goal in the 67
th minute, knocking in a loose ball inside the six off a miss-clearance from the Lakers defense to solidify the, 4-1, outcome.
"It was a really good job by the guys to come in, change the game for our subs and then get a goal back before halftime so we are even going into the break," Zobre said. "We played those guys to start the second half and they really changed the momentum to follow our swing. So bringing that into the penalty kick that definitely helped, but we had a lot of attacks even before that and that goal just gave us confidence to just keep throwing numbers at them."
After each team took three shots on net in the first half, SUNY New Paltz held the advantage in the second, eventually out-shooting Oswego State, 12-4. The Lakers earned more corners (4-3), but fouls also played a factor as the game wound down with Oswego State being handed six yellows and a red card on the day.
The win was exactly what the Hawks needed heading into Saturday when they face No. 14 nationally ranked SUNY Cortland, which is coming off a big win Friday over defending SUNAYC champions SUNY Oneonta, 2-0.
"Going into tomorrow, we're just looking for a result," Zobre said. "We have home field advantage, so that will definitely play a factor. Cortland is coming off a big win versus Oneonta, so hopefully they are a little too confident and we can catch them off guard."
"We have the most amount of confidence that we've had I think," Stevens added. "We are playing really well right now and I think we can do it. I think we beat them."
SUNY New Paltz is set to take on the Red Dragons Saturday on the South Turf Field at 1 p.m. To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow on
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