Geneseo, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz was ready to move onto its next opponent after a tough last-second loss last week against Buffalo State. And on Saturday, the Hawks showed their resiliency as they closed out a 1-0 road win over Geneseo.
 
"Incredible effort by the team today," said SUNY New Paltz coach Kyle Clancy. "It's a huge field, lots of ground to cover and they worked tirelessly to collect second balls, pressure the ball and support each other on both sides of the ball. It was a tough game against a good side, but in the end, they worked to earn the three points."
 
Like their game against the Bengals, the score was at zeroes for most of the match but this time it was the Hawks who put away the go-ahead goal. After earning a corner in the 74th minute, Joseph DiPreta played the set piece into the box with the ball bouncing through the six all the way to Sean O'Neill who one-timed the opportunity in the back of net for the score.
 
SUNY New Paltz kept its composure and defended well in the waning minutes and despite giving up a dangerous free kick just outside the box, at nearly the same spot where it was scored on a week prior, it cleared the opportunity away to hold onto the 1-0 win.
 
"I was most impressed with how much better we were in the box, both attacking set pieces and defending," Clancy said. "We gave up a foul with 49 seconds left in the same spot as last Saturday and were organized so quickly and defended it so well. Impressive to see this group respond to a tough ending last week and how they put the work in this past week to make sure we were closing out games better."  
The Hawks held the slight advantage in shots, 8-5, along with shots on target, 5-1. The Knights did earn seven corners in the game, but SUNY New Paltz's defense did well to clear anything dangerous in the box. Sophomore Christian Micheli was solid in net for the Hawks, and he finished with one stop in 90 minutes.
 
"A couple massive saves from Christian and a well-earned shutout by him, as well as a great goal by Sean to put us ahead," Clancy said.
 
The Hawks are back in action Wednesday when they go on the road to face SUNY Cortland at 4 p.m.

Sean O'Neil Go-Ahead Goal in 75th Minute

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