Plattsburgh, NY — A playoff win was elusive the past 12 years for the State University of New York New Paltz — until Saturday.
 
The No. 5 seeded Hawks went on the road Saturday to face No. 4 SUNY Plattsburgh, which had narrowly defeated them three weeks earlier on a late goal that helped the Cardinals earn home field advantage in the SUNYAC Quarterfinal round. Plattsburgh hadn't given up a goal on its home turf, but on Saturday, SUNY New Paltz showed its resiliency and tenacity, coming from a goal down and overcoming a late match-tying score to earn a penalty shootout victory, 5-3 to advance onto the SUNYAC Semifinals against top seeded Buffalo State.
 
"It was huge," said Hawks freshman forward Brandon Dhanoolal. "We came back here, back in October and we lost in the last seven minutes, so to come back in their home, turn around and win a playoff game for the first time in 12 years was huge."
 
Plattsburgh took the early lead after taking advantage of a miscue in the back by the Hawks. Owen McGarrity tried to play short to transition forward, but accidently laid a dead ball to the feet of the Cardinals' John Hayes who serendipitously found himself in a 1-v-1 with goalie Christian Micheli within the six-yard box. Hayes slotted his shot far corner away from the long reach of Micheli to give the hosts a 1-0 lead just four minutes into the play.
 
The Hawks quickly regrouped and found an answer just two minutes later. Awarded a free kick about 10 yards outside the edge of the box, David Acker played a good-looking service back post for the head of Tim Kane who re-directed the ball across the frame. Alex Wyant was there to get a touch on the ball and scored the equalizer to put his team on the board.
 
The goal marked just the second goal scored on the Cardinals on their home turf all season and first since mid-September. SUNY New Paltz doubled down by half's end, as Kieran Weber slipped a crafty ball through to Dhanoolal in the 31st minute. Dhanoolal did the rest, beating his defender to the ball, resulting in a 1-v-1 opportunity near the edge of the six-yard box where he caught Plattsburgh's goalie Teddy Healy flat-footed to feed a shot past his left side for the go-ahead score.
 
 
The Hawks took a 2-1 lead into halftime, but the Cardinals held the slight advantage in shots in the opening 30 minutes, 5-4. The hosts came out hot to start the second half and controlled the pace of play in the middle of the field, tallying eight shots on Micheli, one of which snuck through for the game-tying goal in the 69th minute of action.
 
Plattsburgh earned a free kick opportunity about 30 yards out, played inside the box. The Hawks had trouble clearing the initial ball as a flick off a header allowed Hayes to get a touch on a ball that went past Micheli for the score.  
The Cardinals continued to press the Hawks for most of the half with Micheli coming up with a huge stop, fully extending to get a touch on a shot by Hayes that was headed into the top corner of the goal with two minutes to go in regulation.
 
Plattsburgh finished the second half out-shooting the Hawks, 8-4 with three corners generated in the period. The Hawks sustained the pressure and was ready for overtime. Neither team tallied anything too dangerous on net, but SUNY New Paltz worked the left flank with Riley Tait and Ryan Zindler, along with Bryan Lizama up top who came in to relive Kane at the nine spot.
 
David Acker played in consecutive corners in the final minute of double overtime, but the Hawks couldn't capitalize on the set play, resulting in a penalty kick shootout to determine the winner with the score tied at twos.
 
Wyant, Brian Boylan and Luca Giammarino stepped up to bury the Hawks' first three attempts with Giammarino cooly placing his attempt softly into the bottom right corner to keep SUNY New Paltz ahead. Micheli then came up clutch, guessing right on the Cardinals' third shooter, extending to his left to make the stop and give his team the lead. Lizama then connected on his attempt before Dhanoolal officially pushed SUNY New Paltz to its first semifinal appearance since 2021. The left-footed Dhanoolal ripped his attempt into the left corner out of the reach of Healy who guessed right to stamp the Hawks' trip to Buffalo Wednesday.
 
"It was truly special because I remember the last time I stepped up in high school, I had a moment just like this and I missed, so it was definitely amazing to be on the flip side of it and help my team for a big win," Dhanoolal said. "To be honest I was pretty confident, but I was crampy in the beginning of the game, so I don't know how well the penalty was going to go."
 
The win marked the first playoff victory for the program since 2012 and the first for eighth-year coach Kyle Clancy. The loss for the Cardinals was also the first at home all season.
 
Micheli played the full 110 minutes, making five stops. The Hawks' backline of Samuel Snider, Alberto Molina, Owen McGarrity and Ryan Bochenski also played the full 110 minutes, along with Wyant, as the junior captain finished with two shots, both on target with a goal and a made penalty to help lead his team in the win.
 
SUNY New Paltz will face top seeded Buffalo State in Buffalo, NY Wednesday at 1 p.m. The Hawks handed the Bengals their only loss of the season Oct. 19 with SUNY New Paltz claiming a 2-0 victory on senior day.
 
"We're definitely going to celebrate — a lot of fun for sure — and get back at it Monday. Get ready for Buff State," Dhanoolal said.
 
The winner of the semifinal matchup will face the winner of No. 2 Oneonta and No. 3 Cortland at the highest seed's remaining's home turf Nov. 9.
 

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