This past weekend, both the Geneseo men's and women's soccer teams did well against two difficult opponents - SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Oneonta. The men's team won both of their away games, while the women's team dropped Friday's game to Oneonta, but recovered against New Paltz on Saturday. The men were engaged in a long scoreless first half on Friday in Oneonta, but the Red Dragons broke the tie in the 62nd minute and scored.
The Knights, however, refused to quit. They came back and scored three goals in roughly 20 minutes to take a 3-1 win over Oneonta. Sophomore John Piaggione scored the first goal in the 65th minute with an assist by senior Joe Mort, who earned Student Athlete of the Week honors for his performance over the weekend.Geneseo scored again at 79:38 on a goal knocked in by freshman Robert Loccisano, with another assist from Mort.
Junior Ben Ariola found the back of the net for an insurance goal with less than four minutes to play.Saturday's match in New Paltz was just as challenging for the team. Immediately before the end of the first half, Geneseo took the lead with a goal by junior Andy Marzo off a direct kick by Mort. New Paltz, however, tied it up at the beginning of the second half off a rebound from a free kick. The Blue Knights struck back at the 79th minute with a goal by sophomore Colin Begy who was assisted by senior Jason Tartick.
The defense was then able to hold on to the one-goal lead for a 2-1 victory. Junior goalie Mike Madarasz recorded seven saves for the weekend. In an e-mail, head coach Mike Mooney outlined how important these wins were for the team. "Realistically any win is good … especially in the conference," he said. "It seems all of the matches are very close so every win is very important."These victories improved their record to 6-3-1 overall and 3-1 in SUNYAC division play.
On Saturday, the men take on SUNY Brockport at home at 1 p.m.The women's team did not fare as well against this weekend's opponents, although they did manage one win. On Friday the women suffered a tough defeat against Oneonta, giving up three unanswered goals to the Red Dragons before finally scoring in the 77th minute off a penalty kick from sophomore Bre Glynn.
"Friday was a tough result for us. I thought we had the better of play for most of the match - Oneonta just did a better job of capitalizing on their opportunities," women's head coach Nate Wiley said in an e-mail. "I thought we played very well for the most part though."
Noting Oneonta's rough style of play, Wiley said, "When you spend most of the game in the other team's penalty box, you are bound to pick up some penalty kicks along the way." Junior goalie Katie Clerkin took the loss after making two saves.On Saturday, the Knights engaged in a defensive standoff with their opponents from New Paltz.
The visitors put a point on the board in the 66th minute of play and took the lead. Soon after, however, sophomore Bella Masotti tied up the match 1-1 in the 71st minute. Senior Katie Price then knocked in the win for Geneseo on a late penalty kick.[Editor's note: On Wednesday the women's team defeated Cazenovia College 2-0.
The Knights recorded 51 shots in the game. Senior defender Lindsey Feuz scored her first career goal. As a result the women improved to 7-4-1 overall and 1-3-1. in their conference The Knights continue their homestand next week, taking on SUNY Cortland on Oct. 16 and SUNY Oswego on Oct. 17.]