Senior forward Domenica Piccoli (pictured above) dribbles the ball in a fall 2018 game. Piccoli notched two goals against Houhgton on Friday Aug. 30, including a go-ahead goal in the first half (Courtesy of Udeshi Seneviratne).
The Geneseo women’s soccer team started the season with two wins over Houghton College and the University of Rochester, setting themselves up for another dominant year in the SUNYAC.
After an early scare versus Houghton, in which the Knights went down 1-0 in the first minute of the game, Geneseo would soon regain the lead from the Highlanders and not look back. That single score would be the only goal given up by the Knights the whole weekend as they put on two impressive showings.
Neither of the Knights’ opponents looked like a match for them. The team’s stellar play resulted in an unbelievable 42 shots-on-goal differential after the second game ended.
The first game for the Geneseo team did not start in the Knights’ favor, as Houghton secured the lead in the game’s first minute. The efforts of senior forward Domenica Piccoli, however, would soon tie the game just six minutes later. Piccoli tallied another goal to make it 2-1 Geneseo and later first-year midfielder Faye Higgins put the game out of reach with a goal to put the team up 3-1.
When asked about what it took to come back and win against Houghton after being down right at the start, Piccoli reaffirmed the importance of their preparation. “It was great to come out with a win after being down 1-0 so shortly into the game,” she said. “Our team has been working so hard for the past two weeks in pre-season in preparation for these games, so to see us come back like that in our first actual game shows how determined of a mindset we have.”
When asked about her two-goal performance, Piccoli attributed her personal success to the solid teamwork exhibited by the Knights. “As for being the person to score the two goals, I will always say it is without a doubt a team effort. Every goal scored is a direct result of a good pass or cross made by someone else.”
The team’s mindset going forward is to develop a hardworking and team-oriented identity, as echoed by Piccoli’s comments. The second game versus Rochester was a continuance of this mindset as the team took an early lead in the first ten minutes with a goal from senior defender Sarah Loprenio. The Knights continued to outwork their opponents and their efforts paid off with a goal from Piccoli that would prove to be the nail in the coffin for Rochester.
Junior forward Miranda Ozimek alluded to last year’s season when asked about the team going forward. “I believe this season will be good for us if we stay determined and motivated to push each other every day on the field,” she said. “I think if we stay consistent, we can have a repeat [of] last year’s successful season.”
Ozimek, who added an assist on Geneseo’s first goal against Houghton, is confident in the team this year and rightly so, as the Knights have a real shot at something special this year, especially if they can keep performing the way they did this weekend.
Head coach Nate Wiley, while hopeful for the season, stressed that the team needs to take it one day at a time. “Our outlook for the season is always the same, be better today than we were yesterday, take care of yourselves and don’t ever take anything for granted,” he said. “Our hope is that all of those things will lead to success on the field and put us in a position to compete for another conference title.”
If the Knights want to go for their third-straight SUNYAC title, they must keep up the momentum they’ve began to build, even in light of their early wins over the weekend. The team’s ability to continue to work hard every day might just be the difference-maker in the end.