It's game on this Saturday on the North Turf Field as the State University of New York at New Paltz field hockey team hosts the No. 16 nationally ranked team in the country, the Red Dragons of Cortland. Cortland comes to New Paltz with a perfect overall record of 11-0, including 3-0 in the SUNYAC, which includes a 5-2 victory over Hartwick Wednesday. The Hawks also had a solid mid-week performance in their 4-0 win over FDU-Florham, bringing their overall record to 8-2 overall.
 
"We kind of explained to our freshmen how important this game is that every year we try to come out and compete against Cortland to the best of our ability," said Hawks senior midfielder/back Jessica Ascencao. "We know how good they are. This is our top competition in the conference, and we need to come out and prove that we can be the best." 
 
The last time SUNY New Paltz faced the rival Red Dragons was in the SUNYAC semifinals in Cortland in 2019. The Hawks lost a heart-breaking overtime game, ending the hopes of a back-to-back title run after they had defeated Cortland in 2018 in the title game to secure the program's fifth overall conference championship.
 
"Ever since our last game two years ago against them, I've been really wanting to get back out here and play Cortland and I hated the way that game ended," Ascencao said. "Our rivalry with Cortland makes them really exciting to play them. They're a really aggressive team and they're obviously in our conference, so we really want to beat them. We just love coming out and playing them high energy on both sides, just the competition is really good." 
The Red Dragons have been a juggernaut this season, both on offense and defense. They have scored 53 goals against 13 by their foes in 11 games, averaging 20.7 shots per game while allowing 10.2 shots by their opponents. They have also dominated penalty corners with 120 versus 82 against.
 
Cortland is led offensively by four players who account for 39 of the team's 53 goals. Leading the charge has been first-year Keirra Ettere (Mahopac, NY) who was recently named SUNYAC Player of the Week, as she's totaled 16 goals and six assists this season. Her 16 goals are by far a league-most, as she's followed by two of her teammates in that category in junior Lily Fox (Northport, NY) and freshman Hannah Corrigan (Barneveld, NY) who have each registered nine goals on the season, including seven and five assists, respectively. Rounding out the Red Dragons' top scorers are sophomore Madison Rice (Greene, NY) with five goals and one assist, and freshman Jamie Snyder (North Syracuse, NY) who has added five goals and one assist on the year.
 
Cortland's stingy defense has been led by three-time SUNYAC Goalie of the Week, senior Megan McGuinness (Carle Place, NY). McGuinness has given up 13 goals in 11 games, for a 1.18 goals-against-average and has made 54 saves thus far.
 
"We've been focused on the fact that Cortland is a very aggressive team," Ascencao said. "Their forwards are really good, so we've been doing a lot of defensive work and trying to lock them down on defense."
 
SUNY New Paltz, fresh off its shutout of FDU-Florham, has averaged 19.6 shots per game while limiting opponents to 10.7 shots a contest. The Hawks have 99 penalty corners to their foes 58.
 
SUNY New Paltz has been led by sophomore forward Morgan Woolley (Blue Point, NY) with nine goals, three assists and three game winning goals. Following Woolley offensively is fellow sophomore forward Hannah Ackerman (Nesconset, NY) with five goals and three assists. Junior back Julia Cummings (Mohegan Lake, NY) has also added five goals and three assists on the year, while junior forward Natasia Plunkett (Holland Patent, NY) and Ascencao (Mohegan Lake, NY) has totaled five goals, two assists and one goal, seven assists, respectively.
 
Senior and All-SUNYAC goalie Mackenzie Mortimer has logged nearly 347 minutes of action through 10 games, while giving up just 11 goals with 34 saves to record a 1.90 goals-against-average. Also between the pipes has been senior Ryan Dowling (East Northport, NY), who has registered 253 minutes of action in eight games, while allowing five goals against and registering 24 saves for a 1.18 goals-against-average.
 
The two teams met twice in 2019, the aforementioned SUNYAC semifinals with the Red Dragons coming away with a 1-2 double overtime victory and earlier that year with Cortland narrowly defeating the Hawks, again in double overtime, 3-2. Interestingly enough, four of SUNY New Paltz's five wins over Cortland has been in the championship game of the SUNYAC postseason tournament.
 
After a two-year hiatus, the rivalry is reignited once again on the North Turf Field Satruday at 1 p.m.

Cortland Preview Video Featuring Jessica Ascencao

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