The Knights’ game on Saturday Sept. 19 proved to be successful for the field hockey team as they defeated SUNY Morrisville with an impressive 8-0 victory. Confidence levels are especially high for the remainder of the season after this dominating win in Geneseo’s first SUNYAC game.
“I think it was important for us to start conference play off strong and we were able to do that. Going into the game, we were having some issues scoring, so personally for us to put numbers on the board like we did, it was nice to get a favorable outcome,” head coach Jess Seren said. “Being able to finish as many times as we did is going to help going forward this season. We needed a game like that to get our confidence back … and maybe help maintain our composure.”
The end score of the game demonstrated that the women’s hard work in practice has paid off—and there is still half a season left to improve. “We can carry over what we saw from Saturday’s game and use what made us so effective on the offensive end and carry that through these next two games this week,” Seren said.
The confidence that the women gained against Morrisville will be a key in their upcoming game against St. John Fisher College on Saturday Sept. 26. The team appears to be prepared to go into this game after having beaten both Morrisville and Utica College.
“We went 2-0 last week, so I think mentally, we were able to regroup and refocus in some of those weaker areas and I think it helped us win those games last week because the Utica game was a tough one,” Seren said. “The players have been working very hard—they’re all coachable, they all have a good attitude, so I think it was important for them to see those positive outcomes with the wins. They will carry that over into next week’s game.”
Such energy is necessary for going into a game against a tough opponent, and the positivity that the team has now will certainly work to their advantage. Seren’s method of having a professional from Optimal Performance Associates come in to work with the women also helped with their game time mentality. One of the team’s focuses has been on improving their stress management techniques before game time. With the nerves settled, the games can be taken on with much more ease. Everything that the women have been doing in preparation for this season has proven to be beneficial so far. If they continue to keep up the level of determination that they currently have, the Knights will go very far this season.