The State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team hopes to extend its winning streak to three Saturday when it hosts King's College (Pennsylvania) on the South Turf Field.

The Hawks (4-1 overall, 0-0 conference) are coming off a 1-0 victory over Vassar College, a team they have not beaten in nearly a decade. Kevin Doorley was the catalyst, scoring the game's lone goal on an impressive bending strike from just inside the box to give SUNY New Paltz a 1-0 advantage midway through the first half. The Hawks overcame a lackluster opening 45 minutes and created ample chances in the second half of play, but couldn't pile onto the lead. They escaped with the win, however, and will try to build off that momentum heading into Saturday. 

"Our confidence is very high. We came off a great win against Vassar, which we've haven't beaten for over nine years, so we are definitely keeping our focus high and we are keeping our confidence coming in," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore forward James Maltes after practice Friday. "Hopefully we can end the weekend at 5-1." 
Despite creating chances in their offensive third their first five games, the Hawks have only came away with five goals thus far. Maltes is the only player with more than a goal (2), while Doorley paces the team in points, registering one score and three assists thus far.

"We've been working on our runs a little bit, the timing of our runs," Maltes said. "We've also been working on keeping our composure in front of the net, putting it away underneath the goalkeeper and just focusing on kind of getting our mental awareness there when we have those chances we can put more away and take our shots to the next level."

Although SUNY New Paltz featured three new starters on its defensive line, the back four has been the strongest unit so far. Led by senior center back Luke Dole, junior goalkeeper Marc DePasquale, sophomore Spencer Ryczek and senior Gordon Walker at right and left back, respectively, along with sophomore Pedro Marshall and newcomer Tommy Jelstrom, the defense has totaled four shutouts and average less than a goal against per game.

"One thing that coach was saying about us, which was really, really, I thought inspiring, was that we're a team that is willing to fight until the end and our defense has definitely shown that," Maltes said. "All of our wins have been shutouts so far, so that has really been great for us. Our defense is willing to stick it in and really prevent teams from getting chances, so that has really been inspiring for us and really keeping us in every game."

The Monarchs, meanwhile, have piled on the goals in their opening four games. Following a 2-1 overtime loss to University of Scranton to start the season, King's have won three straight with a combined score of 12-3. The offense is led by senior defender August Axtman and senior forward Aidan DeCamillo, who have totaled three goals apiece on the year.

Pat Hughes has played the majority of time in net for the Monarchs. The junior has faced just seven shots in three games played with four saves. Junior Connor McKeown had the opening day start, playing 92 minutes with two saves, while sophomore Joey Lindsay appeared in one game, faced four shots and made one save.

"Coming off our game last year with King's we know that they put up a very good fight against us," Maltes said. "We won in double overtime, which was great. Pedro had that nice overtime goal, but we know they're a scrappy team. We know they play just like any other team in our conference even though they're not in our conference, but they always put up a great fight. We know they are going to be furious. They are coming out for blood this year, so we know they are going to be a very, very hard opponent to beat."

SUNY New Paltz and King's have met up five times before, with the Hawks holding the advantage in the matchup, 4-1. They defeated the Monarchs last season as well, 1-0 after Marshall netted the overtime-game winner in a thrilling match on King's home field. SUNY New Paltz hopes to see the same result Saturday on the South Turf.

The Hawks are set to face King's College Saturday at 1 p.m.

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