NEW PALTZ, NY — The men’s soccer team fell 2-0 to Skidmore this afternoon. After a scoreless battle for 80 minutes the Thoroughbreds scored the game winning goal on a shot by sophomore Ernie Economides. Skidmore had a two on one break away, when New Paltz goalkeeper Mike Judge (Massapequa Park, NY) came out to cut down the angle and Economides drove past for the open shot. The Hawks battled hard, looking to tie the game until Skidmore added an insurance goal with 41 second remaining in regulation. Ty Thiele took a pass from Steve Hazarian and shot the ball from the far right side into the upper left corner, just over Judge’s finger tips.
New Paltz created ten shots on goal throughout the game, with their first opportunity coming 22 minutes into the first half with Chris Hotzak (Saint James, NY) sent a pass to Justin Thomson (Babylon, NY), who was denied by Skidmore net minder Jake Densen. In the 65th minute of play, New Paltz was awarded a direct kick, taken by Allan Bronstein (Newburgh, NY) which was deflected off a player and knocked away by Densen. Seven minutes later, New Paltz was knocking at the door again when Sean Reminick (East Meadow, NY) picked up a loose ball and sent a shot along the left base line which hit the right goal post and deflected out. In the 78th minute, Bronstein took a corner kick and found first year Joseph Gentsch (Staten Island, NY), who took a header which was knocked away by Densen to Hotzak who took a shot that was blocked. After Skidmore tallied their first goal, New Paltz was hungry for a goal of their own. Hotzak gave them one last chance at 81:50 when his shot missed wide right by inches.
Judge took the loss in net for the Hawks, posting seven saves in 45 minutes of play. First year Peter Carmel (Ronkonkoma, NY) made five saves in the first half for New Paltz. Densen finished with 10 saves for Skidmore.
The Hawks return to action on Saturday, September 15th when they travel to Cortland for a 1:00 pm kickoff to face the Red Dragons in the first conference game of the season.
