With just one final regular season game remaining, the Geneseo women’s soccer team is looking as sharp as ever. The team secured a first round bye with a win against SUNY Potsdam on Friday Oct. 20, and a home field advantage after defeating SUNY Plattsburg on Saturday Oct. 21.
This weekend’s games showed that the team fits the characteristics head coach Nate Wiley has preached all season—high pressure defense and up-tempo offense.
In Friday’s game, the Knights went up on Potsdam in the first half with a goal from sophomore forward Domenica Piccoli, set up by freshman forward Ellie Gregory. The score remained 1-0 from that goal in the 33rd minute to the 73rd minute.
Piccoli returned the assist to Gregory to seal a 2-0 victory, clinching the first-round bye. Junior goalie Emily Janiszewski had her seventh shutout of the season with three saves. This was Janiszewski’s 25th career shutout, giving her the second most number of shutouts in program history. The Knights outshot the Bears 25 to 8.
Geneseo then traveled to Plattsburg to take on their final conference game. The first half yielded no score, but the Cardinals scored in the 53rd minute. Plattsburgh had a one goal lead for only a minute, as senior forward Audrey Reid set up a goal from Piccoli at the 53:12 mark.
Piccoli’s seventh goal of the season kept the match tied until the 79th minute. Geneseo outshot Plattsburg 24 to 8, and points leader Reid netted the game winning goal to allow Geneseo to walk away with a home field advantage throughout the playoffs. With that goal, her 17th of the season, Reid set the record for most points in a season in program history.
“Teams will be looking to defend her and prevent her from scoring as much, which opens the way for her teammates,” Wiley said.
Reid’s success helps not only the team win, but it helps create opportunities for the other scorers on the team, according to Wiley.
“I think we did a lot better job pushing the tempo, and pressuring further up the field,” Wiley said. “That really helped us especially on the road against two very good teams.”
The Knights finished conference play with only one loss and two ties, and through 17 games have only trailed four times.
“It’s nice to see them playing that well this time of year,” Wiley said. “We are proud of the fact that they have kept up this level.”
The Geneseo girls have a bye in the first round and await the result of the first-round matchup between Oneonta and Potsdam. The Knights played both teams and now have a week’s advantage to prepare themselves. Having recently played a shutout against Potsdam, the team should be comfortable with a rematch. The September game against Oneonta, however, was a win that came in two overtimes.
A rematch against the Red Dragons gives the Knights a chance to defiantly defeat their conference rival.
“It works in our favor,” Wiley said. “We can go back to the Potsdam and Oneonta films and start preparing for that as soon as Wednesday.”
The women plan to build on their current success and take the SUNYAC title.u