New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York held its home opener Saturday on South Turf Field against visiting RPI and battled to a 0-0 draw.
 
The Hawks (1-0-1 overall) started out slow and nearly was down a pair of goals in the first five minutes. Senior goalkeeper Kyra Russo came up big with a save on the Engineers' Gwen Barnes, parrying away a shot just inside the box headed toward the bottom corner of goal. Barnes was there on the follow, but again was denied by Russo who came out strong to smother the second shot attempt.
 
"I think we got three really great opportunities to learn from today that opening five [minutes] we had zero urgency in our back line," said SUNY New Paltz coach Mike Eckberg. "In our defensive third, we really should've been down 2-0 in the opening five and we were very fortunate to walk away with really great goalkeeping from Kyra Russo and a couple great defensive moments from Jess Funke. But overall, I thought there was a complete lack of urgency all around across our front line, midfield and especially in our back line to begin today's game was very frustrating."
 
The first real chance for the Hawks came in the 14th minute with Alexis DeLeo and Rachel Eisert playing a give-and-go down the sideline. DeLeo beat her defender and cut inside to get a decent look on frame for a left-footed shot, but RPI keeper Megan Wampner was there on the stop.
 
 
Another opportunity for the hosts stemmed off a tackle by Jess Funke in the middle of the field to give her team back possession, which led to a dangerous through ball played by Eisert in the box to Ally Donovan. The Engineers defensive backs did well to recover, but Donovan forced a corner for her team. Kelly Licata played the set piece into the box, but Wampner went up to grab the ball played in to end the threat.
 
In the final minutes, the Hawks defense stepped up to manage a push from RPI. Hannah Wellinger did well covering and won her 1-v-1 matchup poking the ball away from a potential scoring opportunity. The Engineers kept possession though and played a pass across, but Russo was aggressive off her line to cut off the attempt in as the time winded down in the half.
Out of the break, SUNY New Paltz upped its play and dominated for most of the second and held the ball inside their attacking half to create some more opportunities to break through. The Hawks tested RPI keeper Sierra Skelding, who started the second half, twice and earned a corner before the Engineers earned anything dangerous on the other end. In the 75th minute, Rachel Borra narrowly edged a shot upper 90, as she took a touch just outside the box for a try at goal. Hawks keeper Maddie Franklin, entering after halftime, was well-positioned in her only save of the game. RPI worked end line and fought to save the ball from going out, then played a pass just outside the six for Borra but Franklin corralled the hard-hit ball to preserve the stalemate with just six minutes left in the game.
 
"We have a lot of faith, confidence and belief in Maddie and Russo," Eckeberg said. "The way they train, the way they work with one another, I think they've done an excellent job pushing their level. We know that we expect big things from them, and they delivered."
 
Eisert had one last try at goal with two minutes left, winning the ball back at the top of the box, turning and firing a shot toward the left side, but Skelding did a good job of positioning herself for the collapse dive with the scoring threat ended there.
 
"I think it's [urgency] and I think it's also not to be satisfied with a tie," said Eckberg of takeaways going into his team's next game. "I think it's the desire to win all around. What runs come from that? What kind of attacking mentality is created from that overall desire? I think that's where it starts from. I think that we've got some really great personnel to make that happen and you only saw that in the second half today."
 
RPI out-shot the Hawks 16-8 with 11 attempts coming in the first half, and held a slight advantage in shots on goal, 9-6. Russo finished the game with seven saves in 45 minutes of action with Franklin registering one. Wampner and Skedling each had three for the Engineers.
 
The Hawks have a long week ahead in a three-game home slate starting with The College of Mount Saint Vincent Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. on South Turf Field.  

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