Coming off two tough losses last week the Geneseo women's lacrosse team needed to rebound in a big way if they wanted to keep their SUNYAC tournament dreams alive.
The Lady Knights bounced back from last week's losses, responding with two gritty wins, the first against Oswego on Saturday and the next against Brockport on Tuesday.
Starting off a bit slow, the Lady Knights caught fire on Saturday scoring six straight first half goals against Oswego on their way to a 19-12 drubbing of the Lakers.
Senior Maggie Morris led the scoring barrage with four goals and two assists. Senior Laura Kitts dished out seven assists of her own, falling one short of the school record held by Betsy Meldrim with eight assists in 2001.
"I thought they both had a really good game," said head coach Carly Ritchlin of both Kitts and Morris.
Other contributors in the much-needed win included senior Eileen Coyle, junior Abby Hungerford and sophomore Anna Hutchings, who all netted three goals with one assist. This combined with Jessica Gunner's defensive play was key in securing the Geneseo victory.
"[Gunner] had a really good game," said Ritchlin, "She came up with key draw controls and a lot of ground balls that she was able to carry over into the transition."
Despite the win against Oswego, the Lady Knights were still faced with another must-win game against conference opponent Brockport in the battle for the last playoff spot.
"We are actually playing a little bit of catch-up at this point," said Ritchlin. "We needed to win some very important games early on in the season that we didn't and now the pressure is on."
Early on in Tuesday's game the Lady Knights' season seemed all but over as they fell behind 5-3 in the first half. With the help of a late offensive explosion, however, the team came storming back, scoring the last six goals of the game in a thrilling 10-6 come from behind win.
Morris once again found herself amidst the action with four goals including the game winner with 10:45 left to play. Kitts also added two more assists, setting a new Geneseo single season assist record with 27, passing the aforementioned Meldrim's mark of 25.
Hutchings also was a huge contributor to the win against Brockport adding one goal, one assist, 11 groundballs and four draw controls.
Although the team has faced adversity this season, Ritchlin said she was confident in the team's ability to win. "I think if anything the stuff that we have been through this season will help us in the end to kick it into high gear and just know that we can overcome the obstacles," she said.
The Lady Knights cap off the regular season with three games Friday, Saturday and Tuesday against St. Lawrence, Morrisville and Fredonia respectively.