Cortland, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team played its last SUNYAC game of the season Saturday at SUNY Cortland in a battle for the top seed in the SUNYAC Tournament. The result was an unfortunate one for the Hawks as they lost by a score of 2-0. 

The matchup between SUNY New Paltz (12-4) and Red Dragons (13-2-1) lived up to the billing in a tightly contested game between two programs that were nationally ranked coming into Saturday. 

The home team controlled the ball for a large part of the first half, with Cortland getting some shots and opportunities early the Hawks turned away. SUNY New Paltz's active defense could only hold for so long in the first half, though, as the Red Dragons' leading goal scorer Blake Aronson scored his 11th goal of the season in the 17th minute to give the Red Dragons a 1-0 advantage.

"We struggled with our pressure on the ball and ability to defend one on one," said Hawks coach Kyle Clancy. "We gave them a bit too much space and time and it will be something we will work on for our next game."  

The opening 45 minutes was controlled by a Cortland team that had eight shots, four on goal, to SUNY New Paltz's one. DePasquale saved five shots in the first half and the Hawks did have an opportunity in the 41st minute with a free kick but the ball went out of bounds. 

SUNY New Paltz had some good chances early in the second half, with Brian Boylan sending a shot over the net and a Hawks corner kick just missing over the middle. They attacked better and controlled more of the ball than they had in the first half. 

"I was impressed by how we started both halves, especially the second half after we ended the first half so poorly," Clancy said. "A great response from the team until that second goal. It's something we can take with us to the next game." 

That second goal Clancy spoke of came in the form of a header from Red Dragon captain graduate student Nicholas Pfeiffer in the 65th minute, who scored his second goal of the season and gave them a 2-0 lead. 

"Both goals were a result of a few breakdowns on our end," Clancy said. "We need to defend better one on one and defend the box better. We weren't prepared when the set piece was hit and unfortunately it was a quality finish by them." 

SUNY New Paltz had chances to score in the 77th minute and 85th minute with free kicks but could not convert, with Pfeiffer's goal effectively ending any hopes that the Hawks had of a victory and a first place regular season SUNYAC finish. The two goal deficit proved just too much to come back from. 

The Hawks finished the game with just five shots and zero on goal to Cortland's 13 and eight on frame. Both teams were awarded three corner kicks, with fouls nearly even at 13 for the home team and 12 for SUNY New Paltz. DePasquale saved six shots. 

With the win, the Red Dragons clinched the regular season SUNYAC title, while the Hawks dropped to 12-4 with the loss and will face Russell Sage in their regular season finale on Tuesday at 7 p.m. from Albany. SUNY Oneonta (10-3-2), and Buffalo State (11-5-1) are the other conference teams that clinched playoff berths. 

"The key for Tuesday is to improve," Clancy said. "We need to work on our one on one defense, our shape, and be better at creating more quality chances. We will work on that all next week."

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