Cortland, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz (6-4-3 overall) traveled to Cortland (10-3-2 overall) on Wednesday afternoon for a match against the No. 17 ranked team in the nation, the Cortland Red Dragons and suffered its second loss in conference play, 2-1.
 
The Hawks come into the game following a win against conference opponent SUNY Geneseo and looked to continue to be the top defensive team in the conference. The Red Dragons entered play out-scoring their last four opponents 14-1 and lead all offensive categories in the SUNYAC.
 
The first half remained locked at 0-0 for the first 32 minutes until Hawks senior captain Ryan Hilliard scored his first goal of the season on a one-time strike on a half volley for the game's opening goal. Following the score with just eight minutes to play, the Red Dragons aggressively pushed into SUNY New Paltz's secondary and while things got more physical, they were able to get three yellow cards off of the Hawks before entering the half.
 
"We came out strong and defended well with a good press and good overall shape," said SUNY New Paltz coach Kyle Clancy. "Hilly had a great strike to help us earn the lead going into half."
 
The second half opened with Cortland's offense finding some green and moving the ball. The Red Dragons looked to have found a seam in the Hawks defense, but goalkeeper Christian Michelli made an excellent save to deny Cortland's offense in the opening 10 minutes. However, it was only a matter of time for the Red Dragons as they leveled the score at 1-1 in the 59th minute after a corner kick from Riley Williams found Ian Blugh for his first goal of the season. Blugh then scored his second goal of the game, and of the season, 10 minutes later to put Cortland up 2-1.  "Second half we struggled to adjust to their changes and the momentum shift that ensued, and they did a good job winning in the box," Clany said. "There are some good lessons to take from this game and our coaching and level on the field will need to be better to earn the win next time."
 
SUNY New Paltz was unable to generate a sustained drive during much of the second half and as a result fell to the nationally ranked Red Dragons. Hilliard finished with the lone goal for the Hawks while Blugh scored both of his first two goals of the season in this SUNYAC conference affair. Michelli saw 12 shots his way, saving seven and conceding two in his 90 minutes.

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