With the winter season about to start, expect many students to come out and support Geneseo Athletics. The Blue Crew (pictured above) always comes ready to support the Ice Knights at home games (Keith Walters/director of multimedia).
It is once again that time of year for winter athletics to shine. As fall athletics on campus come to an end with postseason play, winter athletics begin to take shape. Ice Knights hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s and women’s indoor track will all be underway soon.
The Geneseo Ice Knights are coming off of an impressive campaign last season. The men finished the season with a 20-6-3 overall record and 10-3-3 conference record. The Knights then defeated SUNY Fredonia in the SUNYAC championship before falling to Colby College in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Knights should come back strong once again this year. Much of the roster has returned since only two seniors graduated. The Knights have already kicked off their campaign with two blowout victories; they defeated King’s College 10-0 on Friday Oct. 27 and Neumann College 8-0 on Saturday Oct. 28.
The women’s basketball team will begin their season on Thursday Nov. 8 at Hilbert College. The women had a 25-3 overall record last season and did not drop a conference matchup in their 18-0 SUNYAC play. The Knights defeated SUNY Oneonta in the SUNYAC championship last year and will look to repeat that success this year before advancing to the NCAA tournament. The Knights return all five starters and should once again be the top dog in the SUNYAC conference.
Men’s basketball also returns to play soon with their first game coming on Nov. 13 at Houghton College. The 2017-2018 was up and down for the Knights. The men finished with a 14-12 overall record for the second season in a row and compiled an 11-7 record in the conference. The Knights’ season ended with a loss to SUNY Oswego in the SUNYAC quarterfinals.
The team has lost junior guard Quinn Carey and sophomore guard Tommy Eastman since they both transferred to other schools. Both Carey and Eastman were top performers for the Knights and may be tough to replace.
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both got underway last weekend against Canisius College. On Saturday Oct. 28, the teams travelled to Canisius where the women picked up their first win of the season, but the men lost. The Blue Wave has historically been successful and the expectations will remain high for this season. Look for both the men and the women to add yet another trophy to their extensive collection of hardware.
Indoor track and field still have another month before their season picks up. Both the men and women won SUNYAC championships for the indoor track season last year. The meet schedule is yet to be released, but the men and women should return to action in the beginning of December.
There should be plenty of competitive games on campus this season with many teams competing far into the postseason. Keep an eye on the Knights this winter as it should be a long and exciting season for all teams.