Continuing their impressive season, the Geneseo men's lacrosse team ran all over the Morrisville Mustangs on Saturday afternoon, defeating them with a score of 22-1.
The Blue Knights, ranked 11th in the nation, had their way with the Mustangs for the entire game, not allowing a goal until the final period.
Head coach Jim Lyons said, "I have to give a lot of credit to Morrisville. They have 17 players on their roster and they played hard no matter what the scoreboard said. We managed to play to our level today and that's something you have to do every game."
The Blue Knights managed to dominate every aspect of the game, winning both the turnover and faceoff battles. Geneseo jumped out to an eight-goal lead in the first quarter alone, bombarding the Morrisville goalie with 20 shots.
Meanwhile, Geneseo's junior goalkeeper Dennis Costanza didn't face a shot in the entire first half. Freshman Noah Berg made eight saves and allowed the lone goal in the second half.
Senior Tom Costanza was the focal point of the offense in the first half, netting four goals and adding two assists.
Sophomore Bobby King scored four goals as well, including both of the goals in the second quarter. Speaking of King's game Lyons said, "Bobby has worked hard all year and it showed."
Sophomore Craig Lange added two goals and two assists to the team's total. The offense was spread out as 11 Geneseo players netted at least one goal and while six of them had two assists each. Chris Parlapiano scored the lone goal for the Mustangs.
As the game went on, Lyons began subbing players in and out, mixing up starters and backups. "It's more than a matter of benching starters and letting backups play. We tried getting some younger players in the game early, letting them get some experience with the pressure of when the game is still in its early stages."
Lyons pointed out several players who he felt stepped up and played particularly well: "Tim Besio, Mike Fandrich and Chris Adams are freshmen and all had great games and we got great production out of them. Also, not a lot of people know, but Noah Berg was hurt earlier in the week but he stepped up and had a great game."
Although the game was an offensive showcase by the Blue Knights, Lyons commented on the defensive play of sophomore Rob Cooper: "I thought he had a complete game and a few great defensive series."
With this win, Geneseo improved their record to 10-1 overall and 5-0 in SUNYAC play. The Blue Knights wrap up their season on the road, traveling to Potsdam for their final regular season game before the SUNYAC championship tournament begins.
Lyons described this time of the season as the most difficult: "It's going to be a tough travel, especially with all the pressures of class and finals at this time of the year. But if we play our game and play the up-tempo game we play we should be successful."u