The 2025 New Paltz field hockey season will mark the end of a 25-year relationship with the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).  Next season will see the Hawks join the equally challenging New Jersey Athletic Conference and begin a new tradition of success within the NJAC, but until then the Hawks are eying one last SUNYAC title.
 
The 2024 Hawks came ever so close to winning their seventh SUNYAC field hockey title, falling 2-1 to the Red Dragons of Cortland in a hard fought, evenly contested matchup. SUNY New Paltz ended the season with a 14-6 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the SUNYAC with the only blemish against SUNY Cortland. Yet no Hawk season is really a success without a SUNYAC title.
 
"Leaving the SUNYAC it's definitely going to be different," said Hawks senior captain Rachel Tama. "I feel like you don't know SUNY New Paltz Field Hockey without SUNYAC, but we're ready to go out guns-a-blazing. We have nothing to lose. We have one of the top teams joining our conference and we just want to go out there and play New Paltz Field Hockey. We want to take a trophy home this year, especially it being senior year — big class, we're hungry."
 
Shanna Szablinski begins her 16th season at the helm of the Hawks and returns 15 players from the 2024 squad, including the team's top two scorers. On paper, while graduation may seem to have lessened the experience of the squad, all key positions are filled with players who have the knowledge and skills to move the program forward in 2025.
 
"It was huge who we lost last year, but we return such a talented class," Tama said. "It's the reality. You're going to lose great players every year and key players but so far, upperclassmen, underclassmen, freshmen, they've all done a good job of filing their shoes, stepping up and working as hard as they can. Everybody, whether you're a starter or one of the reserves, they are working their butts off to get a spot and earn some playing time."  
Up front the Hawks will once again show one of the most potent offenses in Division III. Last year SUNY New Paltz finished ninth in the nation with a 3.90 goals per game average. Leading the charge are two outstanding seniors, All-American Rachel Tama (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay-East Fishkill HS) and All-SUNYAC select Miranda Britton (Sayville, NY/Sayville HS) who look to build off breakout junior campaigns.

Both Britton and Tama were named to the NFHCA Division III Watchlist entering the season, among just 175 others across Division I, II and III.
 
Tama, a four-year starter for Szablinski's program, started all 20 games for the Hawks last season with 1,170 playing minutes. She was second nationally in goals per game average (1.90), scoring a team-high 20 goals, seven of them game-winners, along with 11 assists.  Britton, also starting all 20 games last year with 905 minutes on the turf, ranked 19th in the nation in goals per game at .95, scoring 19 goals, four game winners, and 10 assists, with .778 shots on goal percentage. Also returning for her senior season after a year's absence is Ayden Fleming (St. James, NY/Smithtown East HS). Fleming led the team in scoring in 2023 with 12 goals with .778 shots on goal percentage.
 
A lone sophomore and two first-year players round out the Hawks front line. Second-year Ashley McGough (Carmel, NY/Carmel HS) saw 442 minutes of action, leading to 10 goals, one a game winner and two assists with .900 shots on goals percentage. The two newcomers look to quickly make their mark for the Hawks and both bring outstanding credentials. Anna Pogodzinski (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville North HS) was key to her team's success, earning her All-Western New York honors. Finally, one of the top offensive players to come out of the Hudson Valley joins in Hawks in Mattie Betts (Martin, TN/Roy C. Ketcham HS).
 
Betts was a two-time All-NYS Section One First Team pick and was also the Poughkeepsie Journal's Hudson Valley Player of the Year for both 2023 and 2024. In her senior season, Betts scored 20 goals with 12 assists. 
 
"There is a sense of urgency, but there isn't crumbling with it," said SUNY New Paltz senior captain Gail Comiskey. "Sometimes with pressure we kind of tended to go under, but I feel like we're really rising to the occasion and really bringing the underclassmen along with us, especially the freshmen."
 
Although it will be a tough task to replace two-time All-American Hannah Ackerman in the middle for the Hawks, SUNY New Paltz returns a veteran group to fill the gaps. Senior Meghan Gunning (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue HS) will rotate to the middle to command the center of the field. She was one of the most consistent players last year, starting all 20 games, totaling 1,146 minutes played, while scoring one goal and adding three assists.  
Sophomore Elizabeth Austin (Bethlehem, NY/Bethlehem Central HS) started 17 of 20 games with 895 minutes on the field and added a goal for the season. Junior Maya O'Keefe saw 354 minutes of action in 17 games with one assist. Juniors Lil Schaub (Mamaroneck, NY/Rye Neck HS) and Katie Singleton (Nesconset, NY/Smithtown West HS), along with sophomore Jenna Bidwell (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point HS) also saw varying minutes of valuable time in 2024.  
 
Looking to crack into the mix at midfield in 2025 will be first years Joleigh Kozak (Stone Ridge, NY/Rondout Valley HS) and Samantha Torres (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields HS).  Both come from high school programs that have seen long standing success in both Section IX and Section XI. Kozak is an All-New York State pick as well as a two-time Section IX 1st Team selection. Torres was a key player in leading the Tornadoes to the 2024 Suffolk County Class B championship and into the Long Island Class B championship final; she is also listed among the top assist leaders on Long Island for 2024. Torres can also add depth defensively for SUNY New Paltz, as she will fight for a starting spot as a first-year player.
 
A solid defense has been a hallmark of Hawk field hockey and three of the best defenders return for 2025. After missing last year due to injury, arguably the biggest add for the team is the return of senior back Madeline Meyer (Half Moon, NY/Shenendehowa HS). She started all but three games she appeared in throughout her first two years and has proven she is one of the best defenders in the SUNYAC as a freshman and sophomore, hoping to build off those seniors as she returns to full health this fall.
 
"We haven't missed a beat since spring season even though we got the addition of five new freshmen," Comiskey said. "We all really came in-shape and guns-a-blazing, so that was a real help. Preseason was also just really competitive, really enjoyable. I think it just made everyone really excited for what's to come."
 
Madelyn Graves (Penfield, NY/Penfield Senior HS) saw action in all 20 games, starting in 19 and totaling 1,079 minutes played last season with three defensive saves, which tied for a team high. Sophomore tri-captain Sophia Bronzi (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington HS) joins them defensively. Bronzi started all 20 games as a freshman last year, tallying 1,163 minutes on the field and one defensive save. Rounding out defensively are junior Gabriella Barth (Commack, NY/Commack HS) and sophomore Corina Bennardo (Huntington, NY/Harborfields HS).  
Between the pipes for SUNY New Paltz will be both the now and future for the Hawks. Returning for her senior season is Gail Comiskey (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford HS).  Comiskey saw action in 18 games, starting 17 with 921.07 minutes in front. She gave up 31 goals for 2.02 goals against average and had 70 saves with a.693 save percentage. She charted two shutouts on her way to a 13-4 record. The future looks to be one of the top high school goalies in Section IX in 2024, Grace Grant (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush HS). Grant is an All-New York State selection as well as a three-time All Section IX First Team pick. Her 2.08 goals against average in her senior year placed her among the top goalies statewide.  
 
The Hawks quest for their seventh and final SUNYAC crown begins, as usual, with a challenging round of non-conference games. SUNY New Paltz opens on the road against two of Pennsylvania's best DIII programs; Friday, August 29 at Marywood University and Saturday, August 30 at Scranton University. Both Marywood and Scranton were tops in their respective conferences a year ago with Marywood earning a spot in the NCAA DIII tournament. 
 
"Yes, our schedule is hard, but our team is hungry. We're ready. We're trophy hunting and every time we go out there, those big games really hype us up on and off the field just leading up to it especially opening weekend," Tama said. "We're opening up with two top 30 teams and we're all just excited to get out there and play and hopefully come back home 2-0."
 
The remaining 11 non-conference games include eight teams that saw action in their conference postseason tournaments, four that earned NCAA DIII invitations, one of which was an Elite 8 participant and one that appeared in the NCAA DIII Final Four. SUY New Paltz begins its run to the SUNYAC title on the road at SUNY Oswego on Saturday, October 27 and will face SUNYAC foes Oneonta, Cortland, and Morrisville at home before closing out their SUNYAC account with a road trip to SUNYAC newcomer Salisbury University (MD).
 
The newly released SUNYAC preseason coaches' poll had the Hawks tied at second with SUNY Cortland with both sitting behind the Gulls who enter the season ranked No. 3 in the country.
 
"I feel like in the past, especially last year's schedule, there we a lot of unknowns but in a way, it was good because we couldn't psych ourselves out. So, we're just kind of rolling with it and just focusing on us and on what we can do to be better, so that means locking it down on defense and stretching it out on attack and getting some goals."
 
The 2025 SUNYAC Championship will be held on Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November
8.  The first round of the NCAA DIII field hockey championship will be held on Wednesday, November 12, with the second round and quarterfinals on November 15 and 16 respectively. 
 
The Hawks are set to open up their 2025 campaign this weekend in Scranton, Pennsylvania starting Friday at Marywood at 3 p.m. before taking on Scranton Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
"Our goal is to just have a day, every day," Comiskey added. "We just want to play to our standard. I feel like a big thing is we can scout the opponent, we can be good students of the game, but if we're not doing what we need to be doing, then it's just not going to work. So, we really want to set the tone for all these teams we haven't played before and that's our goal for Marywood and Scranton."

Hawks Field Hockey Season Preview featuring Rachel Tama & Gail Comiskey


******************
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.