Entering its first conference weekend of the season, the State University of New York at New Paltz is looking to bounce back with a pair of road wins over Buffalo State and Fredonia Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Hawks (6-3 overall, 0-1 SUNYAC) are coming off a tough loss against No. 18 nationally ranked SUNY Oneonta to take their first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) defeat of the season. SUNY New Paltz and the Red Dragons battled for nearly 85 scoreless minutes until the hosts slipped a ball through to First-Team All-SUNYAC forward Witman Hernandez who scored the go-ahead one-v-one goal to hand the Hawks the loss and snapping a two-game winning streak. 
"This is the best time to bounce back," said SUNY New Paltz junior midfielder Kevin Doorley. "Zero points out of three games wouldn't be good, so these are two really big games and they'll be really important to see how the season is going to go. So yeah, six points is ideal. That's what we're hoping for. That's what we expect, so we're excited."

First up for the Hawks are the Bengals, who stole a win on the South Turf Field a year ago. SUNY New Paltz was in prime position to net the go-ahead goal with the game scoreless and 15 minutes left after Buffalo State was down a man following a second yellow card. However, a defensive breakdown not long after gave the Bengals an opportunity to flip the script and they capitalized, scoring in the 80th minute to walk away with a 1-0 win.

It was the second-straight 1-0 loss to Buffalo State for SUNY New Paltz, which has yet to beat the Bengals in its previous three matchups. The Hawks' last win over the program came at home in 2016 in a 1-0 triumph.

"It was tough because we went up a man and they ended up scoring on us -- so tough," Doorley said. "It was just a lack of focus, but we have to prepare now. We're mentally stronger, so when things aren't going right we just have to make sure we stay focused, stay together and hopefully we'll be able to come away with it this year."

The Bengals offense has been explosive in their first nine games, scoring a league-high 36 goals and averaging four goals per game. Sophomore forward Theo Pencic leads Buffalo State's offense, as he has totaled a SUNYAC-leading 12 goals thus far, collecting three hat tricks already to go along with his four assists.

Buffalo State was scheduled to take on Grove City Oct. 1, but was canceled due to lightning. Its last outing came Sept. 28 against Plattsburgh State. The Bengals bounced back from a loss to SUNY Potsdam a day earlier with a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals.

"Buff State is a good team," Doorley said. "They've got really good technical players up top, physical. We haven't beaten them in a couple years now, so you know it's going to be a tough task and we're going to need points this weekend."

The Hawks are then looking to conclude the weekend with their fourth-straight victory over Fredonia State. SUNY New Paltz took a 2-0 win from the Blue Devils last season, and in its last four matchups has outscored them, 7-2.

The Blue Devils split their opening SUNYAC weekend with a 3-1 win over SUNY Potsdam Sept. 28, before falling 2-0 to Plattsburgh State. Goals have been scarce for Fredonia, scoring a SUNYAC-low 14 goals in 10 games, while conceding 14 against this season.

Junior midfielder Jackson Retzer leads the team with four goals, followed by freshman defender Colin Merkey with two.

"Whether it's Fredonia or Buff State, we're going to have to at least get three points if we're going to be on track to do well this season," Doorley added.

SUNY New Paltz has also totaled 14 goals in nine games played. Sophomore James Maltes leads the team with five, while freshman Philip Varner follows with three. Doorley is second on the team in points behind Maltes, adding a goal and a conference-best seven assists.

Sophomore Marc DePasquale leads the team in the net. He has totaled 33 saves on 62 shots faced with a .780 save percentage, while going 5-3 in eight starts.

"We've been working on crossing a lot this week. We want to get balls in the box and get good runs… if we make that happen then we should be successful in the box and score some goals," Doorley said. "If we defend like we have been defending then we should be good."

SUNY New Paltz is set to face Buffalo State Friday at 4 p.m. and Fredonia State Saturday a 1 p.m.

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