2012 New Paltz Women's Soccer Season Recap

Darcy Reddan, Sports Information Intern NEW PALTZ, N.Y. The State University of New York at New Paltz women's soccer team came into the 2012 season with the goal of defending its 2011 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) championship. The Hawks enjoyed a 12-5-2 record (4-4-1 SUNYAC), good enough for the sixth seed in the SUNYAC tournament, but they fell just short of repeating their magical run from 2011. New Paltz took a SUNYAC quarterfinal game to overtime against SUNY Fredonia, but it ultimately lost, 3-2, to the Blue Devils after seven rounds of penalty kicks. Senior forward Samantha Abravenel (Islip N.Y./Islip) scored in the 70th minute to give the Hawks the 2-1 advantage in the second half. The onegoal lead was not enough, as the stubborn Fredonia offense refused to quit. Fredonia's Katie Kleine deflected a pass from fellow Blue Devil Reilly Condidorio, knotting the score at two and sending the game into extra time. After seven rounds of penalty kicks, the contest came to an end with a Fredonia win. The loss ended the women's soccer team's season and its aspirations of repeating. Outscoring their opponents 32-5 and posting seven shutouts, the Hawks dominated non-conference teams. They stayed in the middle of the pack in SUNYAC play though, being outscored 13-12. The season kicked off with New Paltz winning their first two contests, 1-0 and 50, respectively, which gave the team the 2012 Michelle Vargas-Robin Invitational title. Senior goalkeeper Stephanie Vega (Oceanside, N.Y./Baldwin Senior) was in net for both shutouts and finished the season with eight total. Freshmen goalkeeper Krysten Kane (Macedon, N.Y./ Wayne Central) posted a shutout in her first appearance in net against Bard College and finished the season with two, raising the team total to 10 on the year. After losing to Union (N.Y.) College, 2-1, in double overtime, the Hawks got back to their winning ways. The Hawks returned to their 2011 form by stringing together four wins, three of which were shutouts. New Paltz outscored their opponents 14-1 during that stretch. On Sept. 12 against the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, senior forward Shelby Kondelka assisted on senior midfielder Beth Bowling's (Islip N.Y./Islip) fifth goal of the year, breaking the program record for career points. Kondelka and Abravenel, were jockeying for the top spot on New Paltz list of all-time scorers. The regular-season would end on a definitive note with Abravenel notching two goals and an assist, setting program records for single season points (28), career assists (14) and career points (64). Abravenel and Kondelka both share the

record for career goals (25). Three of New Paltz final four contests were played against SUNYAC competition. The Hawks lost three in a row, their only losing streak of the 2012 campaign, to SUNYAC foes SUNY Oneonta, Buffalo State and Fredonia. After being shut out by Oneonta, 3-0, they dropped two close matches to Buffalo State, 2-1, and Fredonia, 3-2, before picking a 7-0 win over The College at Old Westbury in the final game of the regular season. Abravanel (10 goals, 8 assists) was named to All-SUNYAC Second Team along with Vega (1.04 goals-against average, 75 saves, 10 wins) and senior defender Emily Rokitowski (Wappinger Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), who had four goals on the season and anchored the back line, holding opposition scoring to 0.92 goals a game. New Paltz finished the season making an appearance in the SUNYAC championship tournament for the third straight year, a program best.