PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State men's soccer team fell to New Paltz on Saturday evening in an exciting thriller that needed penalty kicks to decide a winner. After 110 minutes of play, the score was tied at two, so the game went into a penalty shootout. Nine total kicks were attempted with five from New Paltz and four from the Cardinals as the Hawks won the shootout 5-3 to advance to the SUNYAC semifinals.

The Plattsburgh State Cardinals are currently ranked at No. 25 in the latest United Soccer Coaches (USC) Rankings.

Senior midfielder John Hayes (Pearl River, N.Y. / Pearl River) tallied his 15^th and 16^th goals on the year for his third brace of the season and led the Cardinals in shots with nine as five were on goal. Sophomore Connor Howe (Hopewell Junction, N.Y. / John Jay-East Fishkill) tallied the assist on Hayes's second goal and also had two shots on goal for the Cardinals. Senior goalkeeper Teddy Healy (Amityville, N.Y. / Kellenberg Memorial) made five saves in 110 minutes of action. Both teams had seven shots on goal while the Cardinals won the shot battle 15-8 after a dominant offensive second half in which they doubled the Hawks in shots.

Plattsburgh State falls to 11-2-5 with the loss and will await the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Tournament Selection show on Nov. 11 at 1:30 p.m. on NCAA.com for a possible at-large selection. New Paltz improves to 10-7-1 and will next travel to Buffalo State on Wednesday, Nov. 6 for the SUNYAC Semifinals.

The first half saw nearly an even number of chances for both teams as the Cardinals had a slight edge in shots 5-4. The Cardinals' offense came out hot with back-to-back shots in the first five minutes. While the first shot for the Cardinals was off-target the next shot by Hayes was not. A New Paltz defender made an errant pass in the Cardinals' attacking third that Hayes intercepted just outside the 18-yard box. After a couple of touches for Hayes, he ripped a low shot to the bottom right of the net that just went under the New Paltz keeper for his first goal of the game at the 4:43 mark.

The Hawks didn't take long to respond as a free kick set them up for a scoring opportunity that they put away. David Acker took the free kick for the Hawks placing it directly in the box and after a header from Tim Kane, the ball found its way to Alex Wyant for the score as he knotted the game at one apiece at the 6:21 mark. At the 30:36 mark, New Paltz tacked on another goal off the foot of Brandon Dhanoolal and took a 2-1 lead. The Cardinals didn't register any shots for the rest of the half and went into halftime down 2-1.

The Cardinals' offensive attack was relentless in the second half as they put up double the shots of New Paltz with six of them being on goal. Quickly into the second half, the Cardinals had a chance for an equalizer at the 47:53 mark but back-to-back saves from New Paltz kept the Cardinals off the board. Jack Murphy (Blauvelt, N.Y. / Tappan Zee) sent a ball in the box that deflected off a New Paltz header right to Hayes who had two chances that were both saved.

It wasn't until the 68:17 mark that the Cardinals found the equalizer. Tristan Laundree (Keeseville, N.Y. / AuSable Valley) played a ball into the box that Howe was able to get his head on for a shot that was initially saved by the keeper. However, the ball was still loose, and it was Hayes again as he finished right on the doorstep and tied the game at two all. The Cardinals outshot the Hawks the rest of the way but couldn't get one past the keeper.

Plattsburgh controlled the possession in both overtimes as they had two shots to the Hawks zero, but nothing came to fruition and the game was still tied after two periods of overtime, so it went to a penalty shootout.

The Hawks and Cardinals both buried their first two penalty kicks. On the third attempt, the Hawks remained perfect on penalty kicks, but the Cardinals' attempt was saved by the New Paltz keeper. Both teams made their fourth attempts, and it came down to a fifth attempt from the Hawks. Dhanoolal snuck it past Healy who dove to the right side, but it just went over his hands for the score as the Hawks won 5-3 in penalty kicks to advance.

Christian Micheli made five saves for New Paltz all in the second half and saved a penalty kick to secure the victory for the Hawks.  Keiran Weber, Acker, and Kane all registered assists for the Hawks.