After a loss to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Sunday Sept. 28, the Geneseo field hockey team fell to 3-6 on the season. The Knights are now headed into their first SUNYAC home weekend of the season. Despite the loss, head coach Jess Seren is looking on the bright side. “The positives of the game were our defense as a team,” Seren said. “Our goalie [junior] Dayna Mercer played especially well and came up with some really nice saves.”
Despite the score being tied at halftime, Geneseo could not manage to make a final strike.
“In the second half, we outshot them 12-5 … but we just could not capitalize on our offensive opportunities, which is a big area of focus for us,” Seren said.
The Knights look to improve their SUNYAC record to 3-0 this weekend as they take on the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons on Friday Oct. 3 and the SUNY New Paltz Hawks on Saturday Oct. 4. These will be tough games—New Paltz is the reigning conference champion and Oneonta is a team Seren describes as “offensively quick and fundamentally sound.”
The Knights sit at 1-0, one of three teams left undefeated with SUNY Cortland and SUNY Brockport. While most teams that lose a game in conference play will be able to sort out the issues before the next contest, Seren thinks that those teams are right where they want to be.
“With one loss under their belts, it is a big weekend for them in terms of making sure they do not pick up two more losses on top of that and put themselves at 1-3,” she said. “We know that we have to come ready to play no matter what and we definitely have the advantage on our home turf.”
A team’s record does not always display how well a team is truly doing––Seren had nothing but positive things to say about her team.
“Our defense has been playing well and we’ve been holding teams, but I think our offense needs to execute on the opportunities we have,” she said. “We have to be able to put a goal in early against Oneonta and build our confidence back up so we know we have the ability to score.”
The Knights play home against Oneonta on Friday Oct. 3 at 4 p.m. and Saturday Oct. 4 against New Paltz at 1 p.m.