New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz men's soccer team played its last regular season game on the South Turf Field Saturday and gave the crowd of 250-plus a game to watch.
Both goalkeepers,
Marc DePasquale for the Hawks and Teddy Healy for the Cardinals, made highlight saves throughout the match but ultimately it was DePasquale who kept the clean sheet to lead his team to three more points in SUNYAC play after a 2-0 victory.
"Keeping my team in it is always important," DePasquale said. "That's what I'm supposed to do, but I haven't had to do much this year so I was happy in this game I had to do some more and had a little more work and I was able to get it done. It's important for me and just a little confidence too. To be able to see that save, and few saves and save a few big ones, it's always nice when you hadn't had to do as much during the year because your defense is so good. It was a good momentum builder for me individually, but also for the team too."
SUNY New Paltz (9-2 overall, 4-0 SUNYAC) overcame a slow start to the game with the Cardinals pressing up top early. The Hawks didn't start generating anything offensively until about 15 minutes in when junior
Ryan Hilliard worked end line to center a ball across the six-yard box with SUNY New Paltz unable to get on the other end. The team earned a couple chances in the box in the following 10 minutes, but it wasn't until the 24th minute where the Hawks were inches away from getting on the board.
Ryan Stevens got the play going with a great turn down the sideline before changing the point of attack to the opposite side. The ball was then played just inside the box to
Philip Varner who fired a shot intended for the far corner, but Healy timed his dive perfectly and fully extended to push the attempt over the bar.
Five minutes later, Maltes had an equally dangerous opportunity, working his way to a similar spot just inside the top of the box. He created space and took an attempt toward the bottom corner of frame, but again Healy was there to make the diving stop.
"This was an awesome game. Both goalkeepers played absolutely lights out," said Hawks coach
Kyle Clancy. "When it's going to be that tough to score it's going to take really good finishes and that's what we saw from our two guys. Awesome, awesome job. It's a battle and that's a good team. They're a good team. We're a good team. I think we're pretty similar. There were breaks for both teams in terms of the calls and what happened, but in the end, after a slow start, great adjustment, great response and in the second half I thought they were lights out. They played great."
Disappointed with the way it came out in the first half, SUNY New Paltz picked up its play in the second. The Hawks, making an adjustment in their press, continued to win the ball back in their defensive half and pushed numbers forward with Varner leading the way, doing a good job of finding space between the Cardinals' backline. Healy came up big again for his team, but DePasquale put up some highlight saves of his own early in the half to preserve the shutout.
Four minutes after the halftime whistle, Plattsburgh narrowly added a point to the scoreboard, but DePasquale did well in re-positioning himself, and despite leaning the opposite way to still get his left hand on a shot by the Cardinals' Yusif Okine to tip the ball over the bar. The Hawks cleared away the ensuing corner and not long after, finished on the other end.
Papis Konate played a great leading ball to the corner flag with Varner running on and the 5-foot, 5-inch Berlin, NJ native did the rest. He took a touch over his defender to gain a half-second of space and produced a clinical right-footed finish perfectly placed on the far netting out of the reach of Healy for the game's first goal.
"It's on both sides. His role is so important. He's a [number] 10 who loves to work. I think those are hard to find," said Clancy of Varner. "You have a lot of 10's who like to be on the ball and like to create. Some that are finishers, but don't always like to work. He's the guy who initiates our press. We switched our press in the middle of the game, middle of the first half actually, and he just knows right away. We talk about it and knows what to do and he directs guys on where to go. He's a general on the field in terms of his defensive work, and attacking, he's just a super intelligent player. He knows the spaces to be. We talked about where a few of those holes were and he found those holes. He had a couple of great chances. And yeah, if things break a couple different ways, he's got a couple more assists. He's fun to watch and he knows how to play his role very well."
Brandon Davenport nearly added to the lead about four minutes after gaining a step on his defender inside the six, but Healy came up with the foot save with Davenport trying to beat him near post on the play. DePasquale then matched Healy on the opposite end, as John Hayes got behind SUNY New Paltz's backline putting him on a 1-v-1 with DePasquale, but the Huntington Station, NY native came out big and got a deflection on the attempt for the save.
"I saw their keeper making some good saves and thought to myself, 'I can't be the one letting up a goal after those saves,'" DePasquale said. "I knew I had to lock in when the ball came close to me and make every decision right. It was a close game until pretty much the end when we scored the second one, so I needed to keep the team in it and I was happy I was able to do that today."
Healy made back-to-back stops in the 62nd minute on good looks by Davenport and Hilliard, and made another foot save on a shot in close range by
Tommy Jelstrom, which led to a corner, but the Hawks finally added on in the 73rd minute to ultimately put away the game.
With SUNY New Paltz's ensuing corner going out of play. Healy played in a goal kick that was intercepted by
Kenneth Roby who kept the Hawks in possession in their offensive third. Stevens then worked the sideline and found
Gino Mazzella in front of goal who blasted a shot near post to beat Healy for the second score with the SUNY New Paltz crowd and bench erupting following the finish.
"You've got to create your moments, create your half chances — what [Varner] did on that play, both [Mazzella and Varner], we knew that was the guy we wanted to go after 1-v-1, get him off-balance and all you need is half a ball," Clancy said. "The placement was perfect. Really impressed with Phil's because it's placed to the spot where he wants to go to. Gino recognized the near post and used a little bit more power, so I think it's just understanding what you need to do and how you need to shoot and making it count.
"The work that you put in to put pressure on to create those chances is huge, and for those guys it's individual work. It's creating space and they did a wonderful job. It's nothing that I necessarily teach them, it's what they've got and they've got it in them."
SUNY New Paltz managed the game in the final 15 minutes to hold onto the 2-0 win and secure its fourth victory in the SUNYAC to remain unbeaten in conference play.
"I'm proud of the group," Clancy added. "It's an historic start for us. I can't recall us starting this way. They've got a mentality that's a little bit different than we've had in the past. Awesome to see."
The game was pretty even statistically with Plattsburgh holding the slight edge in shots (14-10), shots on goal (10-9) and corners (9-6). Healy finished with seven stops for the Cardinals, while DePasquale totaled nine saves and recorded his program-leading 14th shutout of his career.
"This is probably my favorite shutout I've had in my career," he said. "Probably the most active I've been in a game as far as I've had a shutout in. It's always nice to say you've really earned it and not just the defense doing all the work. Feels good."
"He was brilliant," Clancy added. "Marc has had a great season and I think he's showing his role as a senior leader with his experience. He was standing on his head today. It was unbelievable. It's just a brilliant performance. And you're going to have some of these games. Today, we talked about it before the game. Both teams are going to create chances. They're both good attacking teams. I think maybe there's some moments we need to be a little bit more discipline in how we defend and not give clear opportunities, but you're looking to see if your goalkeeper can make some of those big saves and he did brilliant. I have to give Marc a ton of credit in the way that he played today."
The Hawks honored their graduating seniors prior to the game and also honored 1966 alumni Heinz Ahlemyer Jr. as the match served as the annual Heinz Ahlmeyer Jr. Game, which brought out a large crowd to the game.
The contest Saturday against the Cardinals is the last on the South Turf Field for SUNY New Paltz during the regular season, as it closes out with seven-straight road games before the postseason is slated to begin Oct. 30. With the win, the Hawks are currently tied for first with SUNY Oneonta atop the conference standings. They face the Red Dragons next on Oct. 9.
Post-Game Interview with Marc DePasquale
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