Holding a four-goal lead with less than 14 minutes remaining against SUNYAC leader Buffalo State on Tuesday, the Geneseo women's lacrosse team appeared destined for a huge upset. It was the Lady Knights who would be upset, however, as the Bengals roared back with five straight goals to steal an 11-10 victory.
The loss came on the heels of the Lady Knight's promising 18-8 thrashing of Potsdam on Saturday, in which the team appeared to have hit their stride. The bulk of Tuesday's game showed no evidence to the contrary, as the Lady Knights raced out to a 5-4 halftime lead.
"We came in with a game plan and I think we did a very good job for the first 45 minutes with the game plan," said head coach Carly Ritchlin.
Senior Maggie Morris was a force throughout the game, scoring six of Geneseo's 10 goals and assisting on sophomore Anna Hutchings' opening tally. Coming out of a second-half Geneseo timeout, Morris scored twice in less than three minutes, giving the Lady Knights a comfortable five-goal cushion.
Unfortunately for Geneseo, the Bengals had a star of their own in junior Katie Henderson, who scored three straight goals to cut the lead to 10-9 and usurp the game's momentum. Buffalo State scored two more goals to take the lead for the first time since the opening minutes, then ran the clock down on the shell-shocked Lady Knights for the win.
The pain of the loss was exacerbated by its postseason implications. "This was an important game for us," said Ritchlin. "We are in a position now that we have to beat the next three SUNY teams to gain a spot in the SUNYAC championships, so we were just hoping for a win to take some pressure off."
The 5-4 Lady Knights host the 6-5 Oswego Lakers at 1 p.m. Saturday in the first of the aforementioned SUNYAC contests.