On Wednesday April 11 the Geneseo men’s lacrosse team lost to No. 2 SUNY Cortland 15-8. But the team picked up its first win of the year on Saturday April 14, defeating SUNY Oswego 20-6.
“Playing better opponents always makes you a better team,” head coach Jim Lyons said of the team’s difficult nonconference schedule.
“We were due a breakout game. We are now playing teams we can go out and control the tempo on.”
Against Cortland, Geneseo got off to a fast start, taking a 4-3 lead after the first quarter. Cortland then took control of the game, outshooting Geneseo 15-1 in the second quarter and outscoring the Knights 8-2 over the second and third quarters.
“We came in with the attitude that we could play with anybody in the country, and we did,” Lyons said. “It wasn’t until later that we started to break down a little and make some bad decisions.”
Sophomore John Wettack scored three goals to lead Geneseo. Junior Michael Greubel made 10 saves in net and allowed 14 goals.
Against Oswego, the Knights got off to a fast start, taking an 8-1 lead in the first quarter. Geneseo controlled possession, winning seven of nine face-offs of the first quarter. Junior Frank DiSanti won 19 of 24 face-offs total. DiSanti also scored a goal in the first quarter and picked up 13 ground balls.
“[DiSanti] has really come into his own this year,” Lyons said. Between scooping up ground balls, hitting key targets on fast breaks and scoring a goal, “[DiSanti] was pretty dominant,” Lyons said.
Junior Tim Burgess scored three goals for Geneseo, all in the first quarter. One of them came when Geneseo was two men down.
“Those are as big of goals as you’re ever going to get,” Lyons said. “That’s all heart and effort, and that’s what Burgess is.”
The Knights’ top midfield unit of Burgess, Wettack and senior Jeff Watson dominated for Geneseo. Wettack added four goals and leads the team with 14 for the season.
“Our first midfield is a very difficult group to play,” Lyons added.
Greubel made six saves and allowed two goals for the win in net.
Geneseo hosts SUNY Potsdam on April 21.
Editor’s Note:
Geneseo defeated Oneonta 13-9, in its second consecutive win on Wednesday April 18.