The Geneseo women's soccer team secured a playoff spot with their performances this past weekend, winning at SUNY Plattsburgh 2-1 and at SUNY Potsdam the following day 1-0.
Geneseo came out strong after the road trip against a team that won the conference title this past season, scoring the first goal of the game in the 20th minute.
"I thought we opened up the game playing well, and that was a good sign for us," said Wiley. Senior striker Kelly Bergin swung in a corner kick to classmate Anne Beinetti, whose redirection netter her team high 15th goal of the season.
"It was good for us to play that well and get rewarded for it," said Wiley, whose team has made a habit of owning the majority of possession time in games but failing to capitalize on the advantage throughout the season.
Not wanting his team to settle for the one goal halftime lead, Wiley said he emphasized the importance of scoring again.
"Even though we were having the better play, it only takes one mistake on our part or one good play on their part, and all of a sudden the game is tied up again," stated Wiley.
Just as Wiley ordered, Bergin doubled Geneseo's lead with a goal less than five minutes into the second half. But five minutes later, Plattsburgh scored, making the final third of the game a tense contest.
In the final minutes, there was a skirmish in front of the Geneseo net where sophomore goalie Julia Sanger made one save and was helped by senior Alex Miller, who cleared one of a couple of attempts from the goal line in a matter of seconds. This victory, combined with some other favorable league results that evening, guaranteed the Knights a playoff spot.
With some motivation removed by the guaranteed playoff spot, coach Wiley urged his team to strike quickly against Potsdam the next day. The Knights did just that, as Beinetti scored her school-record tying 16th goal of the season, just 3 minutes, 40 seconds into the contest. Potsdam was overwhelmed and could only muster up two shots throughout the game.
Wiley stated that he wasn't thrilled with a 1-0 victory over a weak team, but pointed out that, "it is still two wins up in the north country [and] anytime we do that it's a good weekend for us."
The Knights rise to 12-4-1 overall and 5-3-1 in conference play. Geneseo travels to SUNY Oneonta on Saturday Oct. 29 for the opening round of the SUNYAC playoffs.
Editor's Note:
Beinetti scored her 17th goal of the season on Oct. 25, setting the school record, as the Knights defeated Elmira College 4-0.