NEW PALTZ, NY —The State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team will look to keep its all-time unbeaten record against Farmingdale State alive when the Hawks host the Rams Saturday on the South Turf Field at 1:30 p.m.
Historically, SUNY New Paltz has had great success against Farmingdale, winning all six contests between the two schools, the last of which came in 2019 when the Hawks won a 4-0 road contest. The six meetings date back to 2003, when SUNY New Paltz won at the Rams, 5-1. Overall in the contests, the Hawks have out-scored Farmingdale, 19-3.
That dominance will look to be continued by head coach Kyle Clancy's crew on Saturday, who head into the contest with a 3-1 record, with two of the three wins coming in shutouts — 3-0 on Sept. 2 at Union and 4-0 Sept. 5 against Drew University in the Drew Fall Festival. On Wednesday, they defeated Merchant Marine by a score of 3-1, with junior midfielder Kenneth Roby scoring his sixth goal of the season in the home victory. Farmingdale State, after two postponements on Sept. 1 and 3, finally played a game this past Monday, a 2-1 overtime loss against Eastern. They also played Baruch on Wednesday, winning 3-1 to secure its first victory of the season. 
Clancy hopes to see more patience and better decision making from his club Saturday, a point he made to his team following their victory over the Mariners. Clancy is familiar with what Farmingdale brings to the table and is complimentary of their group.
"Chuck [head coach Chuck Schimpf] has done a good job of bringing in quality players," Clancy said. "They typically try to play and build and we're going to try and see if we can disrupt that going into Saturday."
Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Marc DePasquale, who is from Long Island and knows Farmingdale well, said SUNY New Paltz playing within their system is key to a win. "They have a good team, some clever players. We need to make sure we're organized and do more than them to win."
Captain Ryan Hilliard was also complimentary of Farmingdale's group, but he also made no
bones about the Hawks have plans for Saturday. "They have a couple talented guys that can play," he said. "We're having that mentality of focusing on our game and making sure we're dictating the game. We want to possess well and dominate the game for 90 minutes."
To dominate for 90 minutes, the team needs to switch their point of attack better, and connect better in the final third, according to Clancy.
"I don't think that we are yet on the same page with our timing of our runs and our movement off of each other," he said. "We're doing a lot of our work in transition, and I think if we can create a few more chances in the final third when teams are dropping in, being able to break them down will certainly help."
Though the Saturday afternoon kickoff means a less than 72 hour span between games — the Hawks played Merchant Marine at 4 p.m. on Wednesday — Clancy said his team is focused on not dwelling on past games and learning from mistakes.
"We want to come out and be sharp and be ready," he said. DePasquale echoed his coach's sentiments while he said that making sure everyone is level and working is a key factor in winning. Hilliard says taking what they learned against Merchant Marine and incorporating it into Saturday's contest is big.
If they can incorporate those things into Saturday's game, like creating more chances in the final third as Clancy said, the Hawks should be primed for a victory, victories that the head coach said are crucial at any time.
"It's good to build confidence," he said of winning games, while he admitted that the team winning on Wednesday despite not putting forth their best effort is important. "Really good teams find a way to win," he said. "I don't think we played our best on Wednesday but we still found a way to win. It's important to learn from what we struggled with." The coach believes that if they can do that and win on Saturday, it could provide a springboard for the group going forward.
"If we can do that, then let the wins keep coming. We want to be a team that doesn't lose."
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