This weekend was successful for both the men's and women's soccer teams, as the teams took on the Fredonia Blue Devils.
On Sept. 20, the men's team faced off against the Blue Devils, the defending SUNYAC champions, and easily won by a score of 4-1. The Knights were led by a phenomenal performance from freshman forward Ian Mort. Mort scored the first three goals of his college career and added an assist in the rout. He was named SUNYAC Player of the Week for his effort.
Geneseo broke open a 2-0 lead late in the first half as freshman Colin Begy took a pass from Mort and shot it just beyond Fredonia's goalie. Mort added two goals in the second half to preserve the victory and the final goal came off a long punt from senior goalkeeper, Jeremy Reeves. Mort managed to win the header battle with Fredonia's goalkeeper to propel the ball into the back of the net. Reeves had five saves on the day, giving him 22 for the season so far.
With the win, the Knights improve to a 3-3 record for the year. "Anytime you can knock off the team who won the conference the year before, that is [a] great start to the season, said head coach Mike Mooney. "It always is a great thing to open the conference play with a win."
Up next for the men's team is a road trip to SUNY Plattsburgh on Friday. Plattsburgh defeated Geneseo last year.
In more Saturday soccer action, the women's team traveled to Fredonia State for their first night game of the year. Head coach Nate Wiley described the 3-2 victory as, "a grinder of a game against a team that has improved dramatically over the past few years." Wiley also commented on the importance of starting off SUNYAC play with a victory on the road. "It definitely gives us confidence, which we're going to need for our next few games," he said.
Fredonia struck at the 8:21 mark in the first half but Geneseo responded as freshman Corinne Santariello scored off a corner kick by sophomore Jane Matejcik at 13:10. Fredonia countered with another goal late in first half, but Geneseo managed to regain the momentum as they scored on an own goal with only 1:44 left in the half.
The second half saw less action, as junior Stephanie Bergin scored the winning goal on an assist from Melissa Beale just four minutes into the half. Geneseo improves to 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. Sophomore Kate Clerkin made four saves to post the win for the Lady Knights.
Geneseo hosts the undefeated Plattsburgh Friday afternoon.u