New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team is rolling, winners of five straight games and holding a 9-2 record, currently the second highest win total in the SUNYAC behind SUNY Cortland's 10-1-1 mark. 

The Hawks go for their 10th victory, and sixth in a row, when they play the 8-1-1 and No. 5 nationally ranked SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons Saturday at 3 p.m. at Red Dragon Field. Oneonta was handed its first loss of the season Oct. 6 when Hamilton College beat them in overtime, 2-1.  

Like the Hawks, Oneonta is 4-0 in SUNYAC play, and also like SUNY New Paltz, the Red Dragons have impressed all season. They tied their first game of the season 0-0 in two overtimes against RPI, but had won eight straight contests prior to Wednesday's loss at the Continentals en route to being ranked atop Region III and fith in the country by United Soccer Coaches Assocation. They also boast the SUNYAC's second leading point-getter and goal scorer in junior forward Lucas Fecci, who has 19 points and eight goals on the season. 

Hawks coach Kyle Clancy, whose squad is tied with their Saturday opponent in the goal scoring column with 23, sees the challenge Oneonta presents and is aware of what his team must do to secure the win. 

"The first thing with a team that is capable of scoring a lot of goals is you know as a team that you have to be defensively sound all over the field," he said. "We've been a group that works hard. We relentlessly pressure the ball, transition to D quickly, tackle well, and defend the box well. It's important that guys are disciplined, communicating well and winning their individual battles."

Clancy noted that Oneonta, who joins SUNY New Paltz as one of only four conference teams with at least eight victories, the others being Cortland and Buffalo State (8-3), is an athletic team that is good on both sides. Mental awareness is vital to Saturday's game, said Clancy. 

"You have to be at your best and be mentally ready for a game like this," he said. "With the way that we're playing, we have a very confident group going into this game, not only playing well but confident in what we're doing and what we are capable of. We're a tough team and I'm confident with what we're bringing into the game." 

With the Red Dragons being a team that has scored at a high clip, and the Hawks possessing the conference's most stout defense — they have conceded just five goals all year — something has to give.

"Get [Oneonta] a little out of their comfort zone, getting them to play a bit more in their end," said Clancy of how he wants to counter the Red Dragons' offense. "Close space as quickly as possible and not give them an opportunity to control the ball as much as they want to. We're going to try to be on the ball as much as we can and put them into difficult situations as much as possible." 

Despite the challenge Oneonta presents both with an explosive offense and a defense that has yielded 11 goals in 10 games, Clancy said there is no added pressure his team is placing on themselves. He said they are staying level-headed and focused just like any other contest, whether facing a good team, a middle of the road team, or playing in their friendly home environment or hostile road one. 

"It's business as usual for us," he added. "Whether we're home or away, the expectation is that we're going to perform in a certain way," he continued. We're very much a process-oriented team. It is day-by-day, here are the things that we're concentrating on, here are the things that we know we need to improve in to put us in the best position to be successful." 

The Hawks are 9-2, and on Saturday will meet one of the best teams in the SUNYAC, a team SUNY New Paltz last defeated in 2018 by a score of 2-1.

"We're prepared for it, we're ready," Clancy said. "This is a very mentally strong team."

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