The women's field hockey team broke Geneseo's record for the most victories in a single season with a 2-1 victory over SUNY Brockport on Saturday, their 10th of the season.
Coming off of a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory at Nazareth College, the Knights were faced with three tough games in a week. Two of their games came against conference rival Brockport with a third against St. Lawrence University.
At the start of the week, head coach Jessica Seren said she was very optimistic. "Overall I am very happy with our performance this season," Seren said. "Each week, we come out and play hard, so I have confidence that we will finish this season strongly."
On Oct. 10 the team proved her right, dominating Brockport at home, 7-0. "This was our senior game, so we wanted to come out and play hard," said junior and team captain Michelle Milkovich. "We worked well together and it seemed easy to find the back of the net."
Seren said the key to victory was their focus in practice the previous week. "We've been working on finishing in the circle and better shot placement in practice, and it definitely showed in the game," she said. With a total of 18 shots on goal compared to Brockport's one, the team had no trouble reaching victory.
Just three days later, the women traveled to Canton, N.Y. to face St. Lawrence. Sadly, their offensive production didn't translate well to the artificial surface, as they fell 4-0 to the Saints.
"We have struggled on AstroTurf surfaces all season, and against a good team like St. Lawrence, you can't afford to do that," Seren said. "However, I am proud of their effort, they played aggressive through the last whistle."
The Knights rallied together and rebounded as they traveled to Brockport on Saturday for their third game of the week. Entering the second half tied at one, the two teams played hard - neither team found the net for the first 25 minutes of the half.
At the 61 minutes, 56 seconds mark however, that all changed when Milkovich assisted junior Stephanie Maisonet's shot that slipped past the goalie, winning the game for the Knights.
With the two victories, the women's field hockey team improved to 5-1 in their conference and 10-4 overall.
"I attribute our success to this team's hustle and chemistry, which has made them a very fun team to watch," Seren said.
The Knights look to improve on that record in their final game of the season on Oct. 31 against William Smith College.u
[Editor's note: Geneseo beat Elmira 6-1 on Wednesday, putting them at 11-4 on the season.