New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team improved to 7-2 on Saturday, defeating SUNY Geneseo by a score of 2-0 at South Turf Field. The Hawks won their third straight game in the process, as it followed last Saturday's 3-0 win over King's College and Friday's 2-1 win over SUNY Brockport. 

Tim Kane opened the scoring with a beautiful header in the first half to make the score, 1-0, and senior Ryan Stevens scored his second goal of the season, which gave SUNY New Paltz the lead that they never relinquished. 

"Ryan has always been someone that can score goals and he is proving to be a dynamic player off the bench," Clancy said. "He takes advantage of the chances he gets and has been a catalyst in each of the last three games. He's been huge for us." 

Stevens, a 6-foot 2-inch midfielder from Port Washington, relishes his opportunity to spark the club. 
 

"Come in and keep the level of play up," Stevens said. "All you want to do when you come in as a sub is make an impact and keep the level high." 

Stevens, as a senior leader of the team, believes this group is special. "This team is the deepest team I've seen, the amount of talent is crazy," he said. "Coach Clancy's done a good job of recruiting good kids, and it shows." 

Clancy was very happy with his defense once again, a unit that was strong all game long. The busiest that goalkeeper Marc Depasquale was on the day was a diving stop on a strike from the Knights in the first half that hit the crossbar, and another shot late in the contest that warranted a dive from Depasquale but ended up wide of the net.

"Our defensive work as a unit was impressive," Clancy said. "All over the field we applied relentless pressure and worked hard to win second balls and regain possession. It was an excellent team performance." 

The coach also loved the work his offense put in. 

"They executed well on set pieces and built well under pressure," he continued. "We were able to break the first couple of lines often and came close to finishing a few other chances.  They looked confident and brave on the ball, which are two things we always want." 

The win pushed the Hawks to 4-0 at home, and they are winners of three straight. With the seven victories, they have won the second-most games in the SUNYAC, just behind SUNY Cortland's 8-1-1 mark. SUNY Oneonta hasn't lost, with a 6-0-1 record. 

The team doesn't play the Oneonta Red Dragons until Oct. 9, and don't face the eight-win Cortland Red Dragons until Oct. 23, both road games. 

Next up for the squad is another home-and-home set next Friday and Saturday, against SUNY Potsdam at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1  and SUNY Plattsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m, the latter of which is the Heinz Ahlmeyer Jr Game and Senior Game. 

"I do feel we are clicking right now, from the entire group," Clancy said. "We get more than just energy off the bench, we get quality and confidence. It's great to see and I'm excited to watch it continue." 
 

Stevens, too, understands the task at hand as the team gets deeper into the season. 

"We just have to take it game by game. You can't keep looking ahead, you can't look past opponents who aren't doing as well," he said. "Every game in the SUNYAC is going to be tough competition. We have to just keep playing and keep playing well."

Tim Kane Post-Game Interview