The Geneseo men's lacrosse team fell to 0-2 on the season, losing to Nazareth College, 8-3 on March 3.
Nazareth scored two goals late in the first quarter to take an early 2-0 lead. Junior Andrew McNulty scored his second goal of the season to pull the Knights within one with a man up. Freshman Steve Cregan earned the assist on the play. The Golden Eagles regained a two-goal lead later in the second to take a 3-1 lead into halftime.
"We need to place our shots better," head coach Jim Lyons said. "We didn't shoot the ball accurately in terms of our ability to put it on goal consistently or to put it in the right spot on goal."
Early in the third quarter, Geneseo got back within one when sophomore John Wettack scored on an assist from Cregan. Currently, Cregan leads the team with eight points on two goals and six assists on the season.
"[Cregan] has been our most dynamic offensive player, bar none, as a freshman," Lyons said.
That was as close as the Knights would get, however, as Nazareth went on a run of five straight goals in the third and fourth quarters to put the game away. Wettack added a late goal, his second goal of the game, with a man-up late in the fourth quarter. Senior Jeff Watson got the assist on the play.
"[Wettack's] just more confident in his shooting," Lyons added. "He's a stronger player this year."
Despite the loss, Geneseo went 2-2 in man-up situations and held Nazareth to 0-7 when Geneseo was a man down. Geneseo and Nazareth were even on several aspects on the game, including faceoffs, groundballs and shots.
Watson and classmate Brendan Kurpis took a combined 13 shots without scoring. Lyons said that they combined to hit the post five times during the game.
"Both Kurpis and Watson got good shot opportunities," Lyons said. "Shooters shoot themselves out of a slump. Even though [Kurpis] didn't score, he did a really nice job of running the offense."
Junior Michael Greubel took the loss in goal, making 12 saves and allowing eight goals. He replaced sophomore Ryan Zaremba, who started in goal during the Knights first game, a 10-9 loss to Lycoming College (Pennsylvania).
"We are going to play the goalie that produces," Lyons said. "We're going to keep evaluating that position on a day-to-day basis, who's producing, who's the guy and right now [Greubel's] the guy."
Geneseo is 0-2 on the season. Next up the Knights face St. Lawrence University on March 13 in Virginia Beach, Va.