The men's lacrosse team stormed out of the gate Sunday night at Union, opening with six straight goals on the way to a 16-8 annihilation of the hosting Dutchmen.
The win brings the Knights' winning streak to five games after spring break victories over Keuka and Hamilton, as well Clarkson and Keene State, which took place during a tournament held in Orlando, Fla. The streak serves as a resounding response to the heartbreaking loss to No. 20 Nazareth to open the season.
"The Florida trip was extremely successful," said senior attackman Tom Costanza. "Florida was the first real chance we got to practice consistently outdoors and it really helped us add on a few important aspects of our game, and that we can't do in the gym."
Since returning from their trip the Knights have stayed hot, and the first quarter of the Union game proved this.
Geneseo scored six unanswered goals from six different scorers in the first eight minutes of the game, all a result of superior team play.
"Honestly, we wanted it more than they did," said Costanza. "We were a much better prepared team that knew we were better and played like it. Our coach tells us that we have to respect our opponents and they'll respect us, but they are also going to fear us, something that we won't reciprocate."
Costanza continued, saying, "They changed their goalie within the first five minutes. They were almost immediately nervous and frantic about how much better we were. All aspects of our game were on. Bear was winning the faceoffs almost every time and both offense and defense were clicking."
"Bear" is the nickname of the Geneseo Athlete of the Week, junior midfielder Erik Baranowski, who followed up a dominant performance over Hamilton with another to match it against Union, winning 15 of 26 faceoffs and nine groundballs, bringing his season faceoff percentage to 64.3 percent, and extending his team high mark of 50 groundballs on the year. He also added three goals to the final score.
Outstanding performances came from everywhere on the field: Senior attackman Mike Cintineo added four goals and two assists, sophomore Joe May sealed up the defensive end with seven ground balls and six takeaways, and junior Dennis Costanza made 10 saves in goal.
The Blue Knights play again Saturday, the opening day of SUNYAC play, when they travel to Plattsburgh, then are home Wednesday against archrival and reigning champ, No. 6 Cortland.