Auburn, Ala — The State University of New York at New Paltz's NCEA team picked up a pair of losses Friday at Auburn University's horse center to host school, Auburn University and Texas Christian University, losing 7-1 each time.
 
The Hawk's day began against the six-time NCEA champs, the Tigers, in the flat phase where the Tigers came out on top 3-1. Senior Madeline Berg stole the sole point for SUNY New Paltz, putting in an impressive flag test aboard Calvin and earning a score of 84 to best Auburn rider Becky Kozma's 77. Other tests by the Hawks were junior Elizabeth Jacoby (79), freshman Brynley Smith (76), and Katherine Brantmeyer (71). 
 They moved to the fences phase next, but the Tigers had a clean sweep, marching on 4-0.  The Hawks rode well, but simply could not out-score Auburn's riders, leading to their 7-1 loss.
 
In the afternoon, SUNY New Paltz geared up to take on Texas Christian University where once again, they began on the flat where the Frogs proved to be dominant, taking three of the four possible points. Once again, Berg proved to be vital to getting the Hawks on the board and rode Calvin once again, to earn a score of 82.
 
Both teams headed to the fences phase next, but the Hawks were unable to find their rhythm leading to some low scores. The Horned Frogs capitalized on this, and pulled ahead taking fences 4-0.  
 
"We came out and rode our best and just got beat [out]. These two teams have so much more experience and miles and we are just getting started in NCEA. Our season now slows down a bit so we can take the down time to just work on some of the places we struggled." said SUNY New Paltz coach Helaina Ricciardi. "Madeline Berg's performance definitely stood out today, she won both flat points for us. For tomorrow the girls need to shake off the losses from today and get back on track and ride like we rode two weeks ago in Virginia and we can beat Sweet Briar. Tomorrow starts a new day."

Saturday the NCEA team will look to redeem themselves as they compete against Sweet Briar College for the second time this season. 

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