Each playing two matches this past weekend, the Geneseo men's and women's soccer teams played hard and with as much fervor on the field as the opposing teams.
The Blue Knights had a 1-1 record in two close games, while the Lady Knights finished successfully, winning both of their games.
The men's team won a thrilling game 1-0 against Clarkson on Friday in overtime. According to coach Mike Mooney, "Clarkson's new coach has done a nice job transitioning and turned them into a very organized team. They had very good hustle, but we were able to match their intensity."
As the game progressed, the Blue Knights became better acquainted with their opponents and their style of play. The game was ended less than three minutes into overtime by senior Jason Tartick, after senior midfielder Kurt Jameson beat his defender and found Tartick for the win.
Although the Blue Knights did not win Saturday's game against St. Lawrence, it was a hard-fought contest, ending in a score of 3-2. The Blue Knights struck twice early in the game to give them a starting lead. The first goal was on a corner kick that senior Joe Mort knocked in with a header, with an assist from sophomore Colin Begy. The second goal came in the 25th minute, as Tartick again was able to put it away. After that, St. Lawrence picked up some momentum and capitalized on some of the Blue Knights' missed opportunities.
The winning goal for the Saints was scored with just 2:50 remaining after what Mooney said was a questionable dangerous play call. He said that the main problem for the Blue Knights was that out of the 19 attempts made on St. Lawrence's goal, only four were on net, whereas St. Lawrence made 20 attempts, but 10 of them were on net.
The Blue Knights have two games this weekend, hosting Potsdam at 4 p.m. on Friday and then traveling to Plattsburgh on Saturday.
The Lady Knights had a better outing than the men this past weekend, winning both games and scoring 10 goals while giving up just one.
In Wednesday's game against Elmira, both teams failed to score in the first half. Senior Stephanie Bergin led the way in the second half as she scored her first tally of the year, at 48:51. Eileen Coyle gave the Lady Knights a 2-0 lead less than two minutes later. After the Soaring Eagles cut the deficit at 54:36, junior Jane Matejcik scored the final goal to seal the victory 3-1.
"I felt that our game versus Elmira last Wednesday wasn't our best performance," said head coach Nate Wiley in an e-mail. "Elmira is a difficult place to play, as it is a small field. We spoke at halftime that it wasn't going to be a pretty game. I was very pleased that we found a way to get a win, especially being on the road."
On Saturday, the Lady Knights hosted Pitt-Bradford and routed their opponents by a score of 7-0. Geneseo raced to a 6-0 lead at halftime, spurred on by Coyle who scored the team's first two goals with assists from seniors Melissa Beale and Stephanie Bergin.
The game was a display of the team's offensive skill as five more women found the back of the net, with first-year Emily Novak owning the final goal at 68:53.
The defense also did an excellent job of stopping Pitt-Bradford and rarely allowing them in the vicinity of the goal.
"Saturday's game was our first home game of the year, so I know we were very excited to play … [it] was a nice confidence boost for us, but in no way reflective of the type of games that we will see in our conference," said Wiley, in the e-mail. "The team is playing very well right now and that is exciting for us as we move forward. Medaille will be a tough test and then we open up conference play this Saturday at Brockport."
The Lady Knights will attempt to continue their recent hot streak offensively and defensively and improve on their 4-1-0 record through these upcoming games.