New Paltz men’s soccer show signs of improvement from a year ago

NEW PALTZ, NY- The SUNY New Paltz men’s soccer team finished the season with a 7-8-4 overall record and 3-6-1 in conference play. The Hawks finished with a 3-1-2 record over the last six games and look to carry over the success to the 2009 season.

The Hawks opened the season with a 2-0-2 record, with a win against Western New England College and a tie against Wheaton College in the Wheaton Tournament, August 29th and 30th. The Hawks handed Western New England College their only loss during the regular season. Freshman forward James Altadonna (Massapequa Park, NY/Massapequa) record four goals in his first collegiate game and finished the season with 12 goals and one assist.

The Hawks home opener against SUNY Cobleskill was almost spoiled, but sophomore forward Lucas Natel (Mineola, NY/Mineola) tied the game with three minutes to go to keep the Hawks unbeaten. Natel finished the season with four goals and three assists for 11 team points.

September 6th and 7th the Hawks were in the Scarlet Raider Soccer Classic at Rutgers-Newark University. The Hawks picked up an opening round win against Rutgers-Newark, 3-1. The Hawks first loss of the season came against Stevens 1-0 in the Championship game. The Hawks bounced back with a 4-0 victory over Bard College at home, followed by a 5-4 loss in the closing seconds to King’s College.

The Hawks opened conference play with three home games against Cortland, Fredonia and Buffalo State. The Hawks fell to Cortland 2-0 in a hard fought battle between the two teams. The Hawk rebounded a week later with a 2-1 victory over Fredonia. Junior midfielder Sean Reminick (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead which ended up being the game winning goal. The next day, the Hawks hosted Buffalo State, in a very physical game between the teams. The Hawks had several chances to take a lead, but were unable to convert. Buffalo State scored in the 74th minute for the 1-0 victory.

The next four games were on the road against conference foes. The first game was against Geneseo and the Hawks fell 2-1 to the Knights. Tied 1-1 at the half, the Hawks gave up a goal just 15 seconds into the second half and were unable to convert to tie the contest. They finished the weekend against Brockport and fell to the Golden Eagles, 6-2. A week later, the Hawks fell to the Cardinals from Plattsburgh, 3-0, but bounced back the next day against Potsdam with a 1-0 victory. Freshman midfielder Evan Martel (Sayville, NY/West Sayville) scored his first colligate goal for the Hawks.

The Hawks hosted Morrisville State and picked up a 3-0 victory over the Mustangs. Four days later, the Hawks hosted a tough and physical team from Oneonta. Senior goalkeeper Patrick Carlucci (Goshen, NY/Goshen) made outstanding saves to keep the Hawks in the contest. The Hawks had several chances as well to put one into the back of the net, but were unsuccessful. The contest would end in a 0-0 tie.
The Hawks would travel to Oswego for their last road conference game of the season and in a wet and muddy game, the Hawks fell 1-0 to the Lakers.

October 29th, the Hawks honored four seniors that would play their last home game in a Hawk uniform against cross town rival Vassar College. Captain defender Robert Mendes (Mineola, NY/The Wheatley School) started all 19 games and tallied one goal and two assists for four team points. He is graduating with a degree in communications. Captain midfielder Chris Hotzak (St. James, NY/Smithtown) started all 19 games and tallied three assists for three team points. He is graduating with a degree in business. Goalkeeper Patrick Carlucci started 18 of the 19 games for the Hawks posting a 7-7-4 record with two shut outs. He made 118 saves and allowed an average of 1.62 goals per game. He is graduating with a degree in accounting. Defender Ryan Lundgren (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) started all 19 games for the Hawks. He is graduating with a degree in public relations. The Hawks won the game 4-2 and stood at a 7-8-3 overall record. The last game of the year, the Hawks visited Skidmore College and left with a 1-1 tie.

The Hawks finished the season with four more wins than the 2007 season and scored more goals than allowed. Coach Eric Watson said “We had a successful year and we are going to build on this with another recruiting class. We had one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the SUNYAC with a young team and competed against very good teams in the conference and non-conference.” Freshman midfielder Tommy Garafola (Richmond Hill, NY/St. Francis Prep) was the lone Hawk selected to All-Conference Honors, earning a Third Team Honor.