The Geneseo men’s soccer team has continued their season into October, going 3-1-1. Since the start of October, the team has played well, scoring five goals and only conceding three. The Knights’ striking skills this month include impressive wins over such conference rivals as SUNY New Paltz (2-1), SUNY Brockport (1-0) and—most recently on Saturday Oct. 15—SUNY Oswego (2-1). The win against Oswego was much needed, especially after a tight 1-0 loss to SUNY Cortland the day before.
Oswego’s sophomore forward Jason Siracuse started the scoring early with a header in the eighth minute. Twenty minutes later, though, Geneseo senior midfielder Matt D’Amico equalized. Then in the 63rd minute, fellow Geneseo senior forward Ethan Gunty notched the game winner. This left Oswego to fall to 1-7 in the conference.
With their win over the Knights, the Cortland Red Dragons moved to 7-1 in the conference and clinched a playoff spot. The Red Dragons increased their lead at the top of the table by five points over SUNY Oneonta, who is currently 5-1-1. As of now, Cortland, Oneonta and Buffalo State are the only teams who have clinched a playoff spot in the SUNYAC Conference.
SUNY Fredonia and Geneseo are currently tied for fourth in the table with 12 points, although Fredonia technically has the tiebreaker over the Knights, with a record of 10-5-1 versus the Knights’ 8-5-2.
While the whole team has been in fantastic form recently, Gunty and D’Amico continue to impress. The two currently have the most points on the team. Gunty leads the way with 17 points in 13 games, and right behind him is D’Amico with 15 points in 15 games.
Not only are the seniors paving the way to wins, but so is freshman goalkeeper Dillon Medd. With back-to-back shutouts and a career high of 14 saves in the loss to Cortland, Medd was not only named Geneseo’s Male Athlete of the Week, but also SUNYAC Men’s Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week. To say Medd has been in outstanding form recently seems like an understatement, since he has conceded just two goals this season.
With three games remaining in the 2016 season, the men will be looking for a SUNYAC playoff spot. It will be easier said than done, though, as their remaining three games are all on the road.
The men take on SUNY Potsdam on Friday Oct 21. Potsdam is currently tied for sixth in the table with seven points. On Saturday Oct. 22, the men travel to SUNY Plattsburgh, who are also tied for sixth with seven points. Both Plattsburgh and Potsdam are in do-or-die modes, and a loss would most likely eliminate them from playoff contention.
For their final game of the regular season, the Knights travel to Rochester to play St. John Fisher College, who are currently 4-7-2, on Wednesday Oct. 26. If the team plays like they have all year on the road, though—which has left them at a 4-1-1 record—they should have nothing to worry about and could be looking at a playoff berth.