The postseason became unclear for Geneseo’s men’s soccer team after a 0-1-1 weekend on Friday Oct. 18 and Saturday Oct. 19 against SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego. The week before, however, the Knights sealed a 2-1 win against undefeated and then nationally ranked SUNY Brockport.
Head coach Dominic Oliveri said the win against Brockport boosted the confidence of the team. He hoped that the Knights were able to have that self-assurance as they played Cortland and Oswego.
“My worry was, coming off a victory like that, if we can carry our morale psychologically and mentally into the next weekend,” Oliveri said.
The Knights were unable to “carry” that success against Cortland as they lost 2-0. Despite going scoreless in the game, the Knights outshot the Red Dragons 19-13, with seven on goal for Geneseo and only four for Cortland.
Oliveri said that inconsistency between halves had something to do with the loss.
“In the first half, we came in extremely sluggish, and I was disappointed in our effort,” he said. “Second half, we were in desperation mode, and we played extremely well. We created numerous offensive opportunities.”
The following day, Geneseo tied the winless Oswego team 1-1.
“From a talent standpoint, we were more talented,” Oliveri said. “In the stats, we controlled the game.”
The Knights dominated in front of goal by tallying 28 shots as opposed to six from Oswego. Geneseo’s goalkeeper sophomore Logan Calvey recorded three saves on the day.
The two weekend games mean that the Knights fell to fifth in the SUNYAC standings. The upcoming matches against SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh will have the possibility to decide their fate.
“We’re at a very vulnerable point in the conference standing right now at fifth place. Top six makes the playoffs,” Oliveri said. “Two games on Friday and Saturday, and we can finish anywhere from second to third to completely out. The teams below us inch closer to us due to our performance this past weekend.”
Going into the weekend, Potsdam is in seventh place and Plattsburgh in third.
The Knights’ situation is tricky. If everything goes well and they win both games, they will automatically be in the playoffs.
“It’s the biggest weekend of the year,” Oliveri said. “It will determine if we will make the playoffs or not.”