THE FIGHT BEGINS

The Plattsburgh State men’s soccer team will look to exact revenge this weekend against New Paltz and Oneonta, two teams that defeated the Cardinals last season.

PSUC (11-1-0, 2-1-0) will be looking to bounce back from a tough two-game road trip, during which it went 1-1.

As his team heads into this weekend, PSUC head coach Chris Waterbury knows how important these two games are to conference standings.

“It’s obviously extraordinarily big,” Waterbury said. “We’re in the heat of the conference schedule, and it’s big. There is no question (that) it’s real important.”

However, Waterbury said his team has been unlucky with injuries as of late, and that could pose a problem.

“We’ve just hit an injury bug right now,” he said. “There’s a legitimate possibility we’ll be without six to seven starters on the weekend, and that’s just devastating.”

The Cards will square off against New Paltz (5-5-1, 1-3-0) Friday at 4 p.m., and although PSUC lost to the Hawks last season, midfielder Matt Hamilton said that isn’t a factor in this year’s game.

“In comparison to last year, it doesn’t matter,” Hamilton said. “It’s a whole brand new season, and we have a whole brand new team pretty much (and) a whole new style of play.”

Hamilton said even if the Cards weren’t facing New Paltz or Oneonta this weekend, the games would be just as significant.

“This weekend is big no matter who we’re playing,” he said.

“We’ve already lost one game in the SUNYACs, and one game is already detrimental.”

Hamilton said if the Cards lose even one or two more games this season, that could be the difference between whether they make it into the playoffs.

However, PSUC is back on its home turf this weekend, and midfielder Mike Payne said that is always a good thing.

“I think that’s going to be definitely an advantage,” Payne said. “We know how to play on our field. It’s a big field, it’s a nice field, and it’s suited toward our game.”

As for the Red Dragons (6-3-1, 3-1-0), who beat the Cards in the second round of the SUNYAC playoffs last season and who will play PSUC Saturday at 1 p.m., Waterbury knows they will be just as much of a challenge for his team this time around.

“They’re still very, very good,” Waterbury said. “They’re going to present some real matchup problems for us because of their technical ability and their speed.”

He also said both New Paltz and Oneonta will be just as hungry for a victory as the Cards will be and with his team being down a few starters, it is time for their depth to show.

“I’ve always talked that we’re deep in talent,” he said. “Now we have an opportunity to find out if that’s really the case because we’re going to be in a situation where we’re going to have to have some players clearly step up and make a difference.”

Email John Green at
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