Senior midfielder Erin Cregan (pictured above) sprints up the field in search of a teammate to pass the ball to against SUNY Cortland on April 14. The women are poised for a deep run in the SUNYAC Tournament after breaking their three game losing streak (courtesy of Ben Gajewski ‘07).
After their incredible 11-0 start, the Geneseo women’s lacrosse team lost three straight games. Those losses include two conference opponents, SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego and a non-conference opponent, St. John Fisher College. While the recent results have been discouraging, the women continued to fight and routed SUNY Fredonia in a 22-7 game on Tuesday April 24.
The 10-4 loss to St. John Fisher on Friday April 20 was a disappointing defeat for the Knights, but fortunately it did not affect their status in the SUNYAC. One bright spot for the team was senior attacker Hannah Millich, who recorded two goals and one assist in the game.
The victory against Fredonia was a much different story. Eight different Knights scored two goals or more. Millich and freshman attacker Hannah Marafioti each scored three. The pair lead the team in goals. Millich with 33 and Marafioti with 35.
The Knight’s recent losses can be attributed to a decrease in their level of play and the fact that many teams come in fired up, looking to defeat a Geneseo team that has been in the national rankings for a majority of the season, according to senior attacker Glyn Deveraux.
“Since we do have that target on our back from starting out so strong, teams are really fired up to play us,” Devereaux said. “We’re not as fired up as we should be.”
The recent stretch for the team may prove to be a valuable learning experience and lead to success once the regular season ends. Responding positively to adversity is a characteristic of great teams and this Knights team seems to have what it takes to be a great team, given their victory against Fredonia.
Fixing any issues the team has now is much better than having to deal with it in postseason play; there are no second chances once the regular season ends.
To find success in postseason games, the team will have to increase their energy and find the motivation they had during the impressive undefeated run that started the season. The women are doing everything they can to regain their offensive presence, according to Deveraux.
“We’ve been watching film from earlier in the season when our offense was working well together,” Devereaux said.
Fortunately, the Knights still have one more game on Saturday April 28 to find more solid footing before the start of SUNYAC Tournament play. The losses in recent games could become a distant memory if the women find success in the SUNYAC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Advancing into the NCAA Tournament would mean a lot to the seniors on the roster who have never competed at that level.
“This senior class has never made it to NCAAs, so that would be huge for us and [it would] put a stamp on the season,” Devereaux said.
The Knights are currently third in SUNYAC standings with a conference record of 5-2 and an overall record of 12-3, which is good enough to clinch a spot in tournament play. Their last regular season game will be on Saturday April 28 against SUNY Potsdam. A win in that game may propel the women into the second position in the SUNYAC standings.