The Geneseo women’s lacrosse team is off to a solid start for its 2020 season. Following a win versus the University of Rochester on Monday March 2, the Knights are now 2-1 on the season.
The Knights got off to a fast start, building a 9-3 halftime advantage. Despite being outscored 7-4 in the second half, the six-goal first-half lead was enough to secure a 13-10 victory. Senior midfielder Tessa Doody scored three goals in the opening 21 minutes of the game, which helped the Knights build an early 7-2 advantage.
The lead would grow to 9-3 by halftime on goals from junior midfielder Laura Skrzypczyk and junior attacker Hannah Marafioti. Marafioti would finish the game as the team's leading scorer, tallying four goals and an assist.
“We had a lot of new players on the field, so communicating the plays was key,” Marafioti said. “In order to score, I had to have the mentality to keep shooting. I missed a lot of shots on cage, but sometimes you can’t let that get you down, so you are ready for the next opportunity.”
The Knights would increase their lead to 12-4 with a little over 20 minutes of play. Rochester was able to close the gap scoring six of the final seven goals, but the lead was too high as the Knights won the contest 13-10.
In addition to Marafioti’s teamwork leading four goals, Doody added her three goals, with junior attacker Lindsay Hernady adding two goals and an assist and Skrzypczyk tallied another two goals. Junior defender Caitlyn Merkel finished the game with a team-high five draw controls and senior defender Caroline McGuigan led the team with three won ground balls to help the Knights to victory.
In earlier games, the Knights dropped their season’s opening contest at home to Denison University 17-10. The Knights then rebounded by winning a close contest over William Smith College 15-14.
Against Denison in the season opener, the Knights had a 6-4 lead going into halftime. After the break, however, Denison came out roaring, out-scoring the Knights 13-4 in the second half. Junior attacker Nicole Voci led the team in scoring with three goals and an assist, while, Marafioti and junior midfielder Megan Henderson each added two goals for the Knights.
In their first win of the season, the Knights outscored William Smith 10-8 in the second half after trailing 6-5 going into the break. The game ultimately culminated in a nail-biting 15-14 win. Geneseo had a 15-11 lead in the second half, but the Herons scored three straight goals to get within one goal.
William Smith had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds on a free-position shot, however, sophomore goalkeeper Margaret Rosaschi saved the shot—which was her 12th of the game—to secure the victory for the Knights.
Marafioti, Henderson and junior attacker Jacqui Thorsen each had four goals for the Knights in the victory. Voci had a team-high four assists and chipped in a goal to help the offense.
With this win, the Knights avenged a close 13-10 loss from last season at William Smith. The Knights will look to keep the recent positive results going. Marafioti believes a positive mentality is going to be important over the next few games.
“The key to keeping the momentum going over the next couple games is to keep our intensity up and stay mentally checked in,” she explained. “As long as we stay true to how we play, nothing should stop us from being successful.”
Looking ahead, the Knights will travel to play Clarkson University on Saturday March 7.
After traveling to Clarkson, the Knights will head to Englewood, Fla. for a pair of contests against Keene State on March 15 and Concordia University Wisconsin on March 17 during spring break.