The State University of New York at New Paltz women's soccer team will travel to face off against two State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC)  rivals this weekend, Oswego State and SUNY Cortland.
 
The Hawks (1-2 overall, 0-6 SUNYAC) suffered back-to-back losses against Fredonia State, 1-3 and Buffalo State, 0-3, the previous weekend, but chose to focus on the positives, such as good combination play, taking chances on goal and making multiple services.
 
Senior forward Rachael Purtell scored SUNY New Paltz's lone goal of the weekend in the game against the Blue Devils. Sophomore Goalkeeper Megan Tornatore held down the net in the Fredonia game, saving five of eight shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Angela Ratka made her return to goal against the Red Dragons the following day and made eight saves.
 
"I think some things we could learn taking away from [last] weekend is we got to come out strong in the first minute," said sophomore midfield Jessica Levinson. "We can't wait to pick up our energy and we have to keep shooting when we get our chances because we might not get a lot throughout the game, but once we see it we just got to rip it."
 
In preparation for the upcoming weekend, the Hawks used their previous games as a framework to determine the changes that need to be made to achieve success.
 
"In the practice week we've been focusing a lot on keeping the midfield balanced, that way we don't get spread too far apart and it's making it easy for them to rip us the shreds and find balls through," said freshman forward Danielle Angyal. "We've also been working on pressing, which is when we want to go, who we send, and when we send them and where to, that way we do work when the ball's moving rather than after the ball's been played."
 
The Lakers (1-0, 2-2-1) and the Red Dragons (0-1, 4-2-1) faced off Saturday. The game was a close match until Oswego's Mackenzie Schaffner made a successful shot into SUNY Cortland's net in the 72nd minute, leading the Lakers to a win.
 
"My expectations, and I think everyone's expectations as a whole, are to get two wins," Levinson said. "We're looking forward to getting back on the field and showing SUNYAC what we're made of and just getting after it."
 
SUNY New Paltz seek wins against Oswego State Friday at 4 p.m. and SUNY Cortland 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.