The Geneseo men’s soccer team may have began its SUNYAC campaign with a rough start against SUNY Fredonia, but the Knights made up for it with a 2-1 win against Buffalo State. The Knights lost to Fredonia 1-0 Sept. 26, holding off Fredonia’s offense up until the final minutes of the game.
“Fredonia is having a pretty good year and they had a good run of form lately,” head coach Dominic Oliveri said.
The game was the first conference game of the season and Oliveri said that he had expected to see a high level of intensity during the game.
“I was trying to get the team to realize that the game was going to be much more intense and physical; that we needed to be much more engaged,” he said.
Geneseo and Fredonia battled for possession and exchanged opportunities to score throughout the entire game. Fredonia outshot the Knights 11-9, but Oliveri thought Geneseo played at a higher level for at least part of the game.
“I thought we were the better team in the second half,” he said. “We had four or five really good chances, whereas they had one or two.”
Despite these opportunities, Geneseo has not been able to put the ball into the back of the net this season.
“We’re getting quality chances—which are a good thing—but we’re not finishing,” Oliveri said. “Mentality-wise, it’s getting to our heads.”
Going into the game against Buffalo State, Oliveri needed his team to bounce back strong.
“You can’t afford to lose back-to-back games in a weekend,” he said. “As soon as the Fredonia game was over, I told them to move on and look forward to tomorrow.”
The Knights confidence was initially shaken after Buffalo State scored three minutes into the first half. Geneseo went into halftime down 1-0, but they were able to turn it around by scoring two goals in the second half.
Oliveri said that after he substituted a few players, the team was able to win the game back. Junior defender Brad Campion and sophomore midfielder John Leva both scored, securing the win for the Knights.
Oliveri said that he is looking forward to the next SUNYAC games against SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Oneonta on Friday Oct. 3 and Saturday Oct. 4, respectively.
Editor’s note:
The Knights beat Nazareth College 3-0 on Tuesday Sept. 30.