Geneseo, NY — A historic season came to an end Wednesday for the State University of New York at New Paltz in the semifinal round of the SUNYAC Tournament.
 
The Hawks rode a three-game winning streak through the past two weeks to earn their first ever berth in the SUNYAC Tournament, which included back-to-back thrilling overtime victories to capture the fourth seed and a re-match against the top seeded Knights, but SUNY New Paltz couldn't keep pace with a stacked Geneseo team and fell, 20-3.
 
Ethan Scully scored two goals on two shots for the Hawks with Ryan Scully registering a goal and an assist. Rafael Fillyaw and Sean Cassidy each had two caused turnovers, while long poles Zachary Leung and Michael Devoe had a team-leading five and three ground balls, respectively.
 
The Knights jumped out to a 10-0 lead until Ethan Scully ripped a shot from the outside off a skip pass by Ryan Scully to break the stalemate. The Hawks went into the half trailing 12-1 with Ryan Scully getting the second goal on the board for SUNY New Paltz two minutes into the third quarter. Ethan Scully then capped the offense two minutes later.
 
 
Geneseo dominated the game, totaling more shots (57-24), ground balls (33-24) and face off wins (16-12). The Hawks were efficient clearing the ball, going 13-for-16, but suffered 24 turnovers on the day.  
The loss concluded an improbable 2023 run that had SUNY New Paltz finishing last in the conference standings ahead of the season with the program coachless until Dylan Neisler took over in November. The team set new program records for overall wins (8) and conference victories (4) with the Hawks finishing above .500 for the first time ever since its inception in 2020.
 
The No. 1 seeded Knights continued their undefeated streak against SUNYAC competition and will head back into the SUNYAC Championship for the third-straight season, facing defending SUNYAC Champions Cortland, which handily defeated Oswego, 20-10 in the other semifinal game.
 
SUNY New Paltz returns the bulk of its roster heading into 2024 with the foundation set for another chance to compete for its first conference title.


Game Highlights vs. Geneseo

 
*******************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.