After a hot start to SUNYAC play, the Geneseo men’s soccer team’s three-game win streak was snapped against SUNY Oneonta and SUNY New Paltz. The Knights tallied two goals and allowed five goals between the two games on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5. Despite the two losses, head coach Dominic Oliveri said the two games were “very different.” In the game against Oneonta, Oliveri said that the Knights “played a great game” against the 2012 SUNYAC champions.
“We knew they were going to be one of the best teams, conference-wise, that we were going to face,” Oliveri said. “We played extremely well. It’s tough losing, but from a coach’s standpoint, we played with our hearts the entire time and it was a pretty good game for us.”
Geneseo opened the scoring up when junior midfielder Connor Beisner found the back of the net in the 22nd minute. The Knights held their own all the way until the final four minutes when Oneonta scored off of a loose header. Oliveri said that the goal “crushed [them] mentally,” which then led to the demoralizing second goal.
“I saw no weakness in our game. We played an extremely talented squad and we deserved to win,” Oliveri said. “Their coach actually said to us after the game that we deserved to win.”
Looking to not drop both games and fall to 2-2 in the conference, the Knights faced New Paltz on Saturday Oct. 5.
“It was tough coming back the next day and playing a team that is not as talented.” Oliveri said. “But after losing against Oneonta, we were just shot.”
The Knights conceded two goals to the Hawks before they netted one of their own. Again it was Beisner who scored, but it was too little too late, as the Hawks scored an insurance goal in the 70th minute to seal the game.
“New Paltz was definitely not even close to being as talented as Oneonta,” Oliveri said. “Mentally we were drained. We just were never in the game so it was a little disappointing.”
The Knights play face nationally ranked and undefeated SUNY Brockport on Saturday Oct. 12.
“It will be extremely difficult,” Oliveri said. “But if we play like [we did against Oneonta], we could beat anyone in the conference.”
Editor’s Note:
The men’s soccer team played Rochester Institute of Technology on Wednesday Oct. 9. The game ended in a 0-0 tie after double overtime. The Knights are 5-6-2.