The Geneseo field hockey team dropped to 7-7 on the season with losses at Hamilton College and SUNY Oneonta on Oct. 11 and 15, respectively. The Knights are now on a three-game skid dating back to an Oct. 4 loss at St. Lawrence University.
Additionally, the Knights have now lost four straight games to out-of-conference foe Hamilton, who came into the contest sporting an even 4-4 record on the season. Going into the game, head coach Jessica Seren said that she hoped the team would be able to adjust quickly to the AstroTurf field of the Continentals, which she described as, "very difficult for us to play on."
The Knights fell behind early to Hamilton, giving up two goals in the first half. Despite the deficit, Seren said the team remained confident.
"We knew we were right there," Seren said. "We knew we had to keep pushing and getting off shots [in the second half], which we did."
The team came out of the break fired up and scored in the first three minutes of the second half. Sophomore forward Kerry Hosford passed the ball to classmate Kayla DeAngelis, who one-timed it into the cage. It was DeAngelis' 10th goal of the season, and her 27th point overall.
The goal cut the score to a manageable 2-1 deficit, but after that it was all Hamilton. The Continentals scored six minutes after DeAngelis' goal, and then scored again with just over two minutes left in regulation to secure the 4-1 victory.
Geneseo lost despite doubling Hamilton in number of penalty corners, 6-3, and being outshot by only 12-13.
"The score of that game was not indicative of the outcome," Seren stated.
The Knights then traveled to SUNY Oneonta on Oct. 15 for a battle between the second and third teams in the SUNYAC conference.
Oneonta scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game in the seventh minute of the first half. The shot was played in the circle, and just got between the pads of Geneseo's goalie, junior Caitlyn Dowell.
Once again, the Knights out-cornered their opponent, this time by a commanding 15-4. The Knights also outshot the Red Dragons 13-6.
Seren said it was, "Frustrating to outplay them and not come away with a victory." But she also noted that it is important for the team to stay positive after the recent losses and, "understand that we're outplaying these opponents."
With only five games remaining in the regular season, Seren said that the offense has to have, "that killer attitude."
"We are applying pressure," Seren said. "We just need to come up with a game in which we capitalize."
The Knights will take on Nazareth College on Oct. 20 and Washington & Jefferson College of Pennsylvania on Oct. 23. The Knights will also face SUNY New Paltz on Oct. 22 to finish a game from Oct. 14.
The Oct. 20 contest against Nazareth marks Geneseo's first home game in over three weeks, and is also their last one this season.