Syracuse, NY — The State University of New York Athletic Conference released the final standings of the Commissioner's Cup with the Hawks finishing third overall just behind SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Cortland.
 
The Dr. Patrick R. Damore Commissioner's Cup is a point system determined by 20 different conference sports in the fall, winter and spring. A 10-point system is used in each sport with the first-place team garnering a full 10 points, second-place nine and so on. A team's regular season finish will be added to their postseason result and divided by two for the final total in that respective sport. The total number of points that a school accumulates in then divided by the number of conference sports it has. The total number of points determines the overall winner by the end of the academic year.
 
Following the Knights (8.93), Red Dragons (8.68) and Hawks (7.02), was Brockport (6.73), Oneonta (6.53), Plattsburgh (5.13), Oswego (4.84), Fredonia (4), Buffalo State (3.94) and Potsdam (2.76).
 
Geneseo and Cortland have won every year dating back to the inception of the Commissioner's Cup after the 1996-97 season. The highest standing SUNY New Paltz has ever finished was following the 2018-19 season where they enjoyed the most success in recent memory with four SUNYAC championship winners. 
This season, they have nearly matched that same success with 15 of 17 varsity programs earning a spot in the postseason, including two teams in women's soccer and men's basketball who secured their first postseason berth in nearly a decade. The Hawks field hockey and women's basketball programs highlighted the prolific year as the two teams captured SUNYAC titles for the sixth time, respectively.
 
Field Hockey had unprecedented success in an already storied program, setting a record for most wins in program history after finishing the fall at 17-3 overall. They went undefeated in SUNYAC play, both regular season and post, for the first time ever, including defeating nationally ranked Cortland twice. Their SUNYAC title was the second in three seasons and with the win earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament where they hosted Wilson in the first round before falling to nationally ranked Tufts in round two in Middlebury, VT.
 
The Hawks women's basketball team worked their way back into prominence, touting one of their youngest teams in recent memory with half the team playing college basketball for the first time after 2020-21 was canceled due to COVID-19. Through all the adversity during a long season, the team earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and upset top-seeded Cortland on its home floor to secure the program's third-straight SUNYAC title and fifth in the last six years.
 
This fall, every single varsity program made the postseason. Women's Volleyball earned a SUNYAC semifinal appearance after finishing 14-14 overall and 6-3 in SUNYAC, women's soccer earned the No. 4 seed and hosted a SUNYAC quarterfinal, while men's soccer secured the No. 2 seed and hosted a semifinal game. The Hawks men's cross country team placed sixth at the SUNYAC Championships with senior Jake Meyers the top placing runner at 17th overall, with the team then earning a 14th place standing at Regionals with Meyers crossing at 33rd overall. The women's cross country team finished sixth as well at SUNYAC, while placing two runners in Clara Flores-Reininger and Kate Cochran fifth and sixth, respectively to lead the group. The women then placed 17th overall at the regional meet.
  The Hawks had a productive winter as well, as men's swimming finished third overall and had five men earn All-SUNYAC honors due to their individual finishes. On the women's side, SUNY New Paltz placed fourth overall and had six All-SUNYAC recipients. The men's basketball team had one of their most successful seasons in recent history, earning a spot in the SUNYAC semifinal after defeating Cortland in the SUNYAC Quarterfinal in the Hawk Center. 
 
This past spring, the Hawks softball team earned the No. 4 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament after finishing 27-17 overall — the most wins in program history — while going 12-6 in SUNYAC play. They also won two games in the conference tournament, defeating Plattsburgh State and Oneonta, for the first time ever to advance to the semifinal round. Although the baseball team missed the postseason, they secured its first SUNYAC regular season series sweep since 2018 after taking three from Fredonia State at home — with the last game coming in dramatic, grand slam walk-off fashion courtesy of senior Dean Stalzer.
 
In their first full year since its inception, SUNY New Paltz men's lacrosse won its first ever SUNYAC game after handily taking care of Oneonta at home. The women's lacrosse team, meanwhile, finished 6-10 overall and 4-5 in the SUNYAC to clinch just their second ever postseason berth. Women's tennis went undefeated in SUNYAC regular season and made their 22nd-straight appearance in the conference finals but fell to Oneonta in the championship round.
 
Since they do not play in the SUNYAC, victories for the Hawks men's volleyball program don't go toward Commissioner Cup standings, but the team went undefeated in UVC action and hosted the UVC Championship game before earning an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Wins for the Hawks equestrian team also don't count toward Commissioner's Cup standings, but the team had a successful year as well, in their first full season since their inception. The NCEA program won an ECAC Regional title and earned a spot at nationals where they had a tough showing against Sweet Briar in the semifinal round.
 
To view the official SUNYAC press release, click here.

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