New Paltz Women's Soccer NCAA Tournament Run Ends Against No. 18 Amherst

New Paltz Athletic Communications

Rochester, NY — Everyone will always remember the 2024 New Paltz Hawks.
 
An historic season came to a close Saturday in Rochester at Edwin Fauver Stadium, as the State University of New York New Paltz closed out its 2024 campaign in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament following a 2-0 loss to No. 18 ranked Amherst.
 
The Hawks (15-3-2 overall) fought valiantly, playing tough through 90 minutes of action, but ultimately two second-half goals by the Mammoths (12-1-6) were the difference as their national title hopes came to an end.
 
"I feel like it's easy to look at winning SUNYAC's and making it here was our goal, and it was, but we had a lot of little goals that we accomplished every step of the way and I think that was our goal," said SUNY New Paltz senior captain Maddie Franklin. "Spending time together, making sure we had a fundamental belief in each other and ourselves so we can make it as far as we did, and I think that was something that we really can hold our heads up high about."
 
Amherst, making its 21st appearance and fourth straight into the NCAA Division III Tournament came out and pressed early to create some first half chances against a Hawks team who earned an automatic bid after claiming a SUNYAC title and earning its second appearance on the national stage.
 
Although the stats heavied the Mammoths in shots (19-2), including 12-1 in the second half, the game was more evenly fought on both ends. Hannah Wellinger saw an early chance on a loose ball that found her feet just outside of the box. The outside back ripped a shot from 20-yards out that Mammoth keeper Mika Fisher didn't make an attempt on but was closer than perceived as the shot hit off the edge of the cross bar and out of play.
 
Amherst had its first real chance midway through the half, as the Mammoths won the ball back inside their box after forcing some pressure, taking a chance inside the six-yard box that went just high. They saw another opportunity shortly after, quickly throwing in a ball down the sideline on their offensive third that got in behind, but again the attempt on net went over the bar.

SUNY New Paltz weathered the storm in the last few minutes of play with Amherst garnering some momentum before the break. The Mammoths found one last dangerous attempt with four minutes left, as they sent a dangerous service inside the box that hit off the cross bar and out of play to end the half at 0-0.
 
"I think that it was a level of pressure that Amherst did a very good job with," said SUNY New Paltz coach Mike Eckberg. "I command our student-athletes. I thought we did a very good job growing into the game and survive that pressure in certain moments and certainly try to weather the storm and be able to create opportunity for us in transition. It's a testament to Amherst's program, but a greater testament to our student-athletes to be able to put up a fight like they did and kind of create magic."
 
The Hawks came out strong in the second half after making a couple tactical adjustments was able to generate more pressure of Amherst's Fisher. Franklin had to come up clutch early though, making consecutive saves in the opening 10 minutes to keep the 0-0 draw.
 
"Amherst doesn't make many mistakes so when a bad touch happens or when there's a floating ball, you need to capitalize on that. I thought we did a good job of winning first and second balls in the midfield but getting forward I thought we could have been a little bit more creative," Eisert said. "But all-in-all, I couldn't be more proud of this team. This isn't somewhere we've been before and walked into here like we've been here a million times."

Three minutes into the second half, Amherst played a ball through resulting in a 1-v-1 situation running through the corner of the box. Franklin timed herself perfectly, stayed aggressive and got her body on the ball preventing the Mammoths to center toward a wide-open six. Shortly after, Franklin parried a ball away headed toward the near post resulting in a corner that SUNY New Paltz cleared, but her most impressive stop was on a ball headed toward the back post. In traffic, Franklin went up and got her hands glued to the whipping ball to corral and hold from harm.
 
The stretch then ignited a spark for the Hawks front line who was able to continue putting balls through and forcing Fisher to come off her line to challenge. Amherst stymied the surge, only allowing one clean look for SUNY New Paltz, which came from the foot of Rachel Eisert who ripped a shot 20-yards out. Fisher handled the attempt, and the game remained scoreless.
 
Eventually, Amherst found the back of the net in the 68th minute off a nice cross from the left side. The service found the head of Patience Kum who got enough to re-direct the ball to the side corner for the goal. The Mammoths rode the momentum and capitalized three minutes later, as the Hawks struggled clearing the ball out of the box off a corner. The loose ball was found by Caroline Colletti who turned and blasted a shot top corner to push Amherst up, 2-0.
 
SUNY New Paltz fought to earn four set pieces in the final 20 minutes, but Amherst did well of clearing the ball away from pressure and ultimately closed out with the win, eliminating the Hawks from the postseason tournament.
 
"I felt like a group like Amherst doesn't make many mistakes, but I thought with our level of pressure any time we could get the ball in the attacking half we have a really dynamic group of five forwards that all have tangible skill set, so I thought whether it was Gaby Treble, Parris Burke, Kennedy Jones, Brooke Kelleher, Abby Dolge, I thought one of them was going to break through," Eckberg said. "Rachel had a really good moment that their goalie made a good save on. So, I did have belief that we were going to break through when it was 0-0."
 
Franklin finished with a season-high nine saves in a full 90 minutes of action. Emma Voege, Grace Lien, Wellinger and Laney Schmitz all logged a full 90 minutes of action as well with Eisert playing 85 minutes with the only shot on target for the Hawks.
 
Despite the early exit, SUNY New Paltz still ends its 2024 campaign as the best in program history, setting a record for overall (15) and SUNYAC (8) wins, along with winning percentage (.944). However, they graduate a coveted group of seniors who have left a lasting impact on the program, changing the team into one of the best in the region since stepping foot on campus four years ago.
 
"I still remember one of our first practices… we had a senior captain talking about how good a freshman forward was [in Rachel]. And adding Maddie when we did and Gaby Treble — the talent was not there when they came in and they just brought a level of creativity, tactical, technical, everything," Eckberg said. "They just grew their craft over the course of their careers to where it is today and couldn't be more proud of them to hoist a SUNYAC Championship and get to this stage that I think our returners will grow with and go where we need to get to as a program."
 
Ultimately, the result of four years of work landed a conference title and an NCAA appearance just the second time ever and first in more than 10 years for the Hawks whose 2024 senior class will go down as one of the most influential in program history.
 
"We knew that there was more for us. We knew there was a level that we hadn't tapped into yet and we took the spring season and a team trip in a foreign country, and we built new connections, and we built something so special that we carried into August, and it continued to build for three months straight it was the coolest thing to see," Eisert said. "Every single day, every single player was bought into practice and that comes from each other and that also comes from a coaching staff who makes you believe in what we want to do here. You can't ask for anything more in a team."