Men’s soccer splits conference openers

The Geneseo men’s soccer team may have began its SUNYAC campaign with a rough start against SUNY Fredonia, but the Knights made up for it with a 2-1 win against Buffalo State. The Knights lost to Fredonia 1-0 Sept. 26, holding off Fredonia’s offense up until the final minutes of the game.

“Fredonia is having a pretty good year and they had a good run of form lately,” head coach Dominic Oliveri said.

The game was the first conference game of the season and Oliveri said that he had expected to see a high level of intensity during the game.

“I was trying to get the team to realize that the game was going to be much more intense and physical; that we needed to be much more engaged,” he said.

Geneseo and Fredonia battled for possession and exchanged opportunities to score throughout the entire game. Fredonia outshot the Knights 11-9, but Oliveri thought Geneseo played at a higher level for at least part of the game.

“I thought we were the better team in the second half,” he said. “We had four or five really good chances, whereas they had one or two.”

Despite these opportunities, Geneseo has not been able to put the ball into the back of the net this season.

“We’re getting quality chances—which are a good thing—but we’re not finishing,” Oliveri said. “Mentality-wise, it’s getting to our heads.”

Going into the game against Buffalo State, Oliveri needed his team to bounce back strong.

“You can’t afford to lose back-to-back games in a weekend,” he said. “As soon as the Fredonia game was over, I told them to move on and look forward to tomorrow.”

The Knights confidence was initially shaken after Buffalo State scored three minutes into the first half. Geneseo went into halftime down 1-0, but they were able to turn it around by scoring two goals in the second half.

Oliveri said that after he substituted a few players, the team was able to win the game back. Junior defender Brad Campion and sophomore midfielder John Leva both scored, securing the win for the Knights.

Oliveri said that he is looking forward to the next SUNYAC games against SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Oneonta on Friday Oct. 3 and Saturday Oct. 4, respectively.

Editor’s note:

The Knights beat Nazareth College 3-0 on Tuesday Sept. 30.

Cross country shines heading into break

With the weekend behind them, the Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams can look ahead to an excellent remainder of their season thanks to their stellar finishes on Saturday Sept. 27 at the Pre-NCAA meet in Mason, Ohio. Both teams had top-two finishes, with the women winning their race and the men coming in second place. The women’s team finished with two runners placing first and second––seniors Cassie Goodman and Alyssa Knott––while also placing seven total runners in the top 20. The men’s team had one top-five finisher with senior Cohen Miles-Rath placing fifth. The team as a whole ended up with five of the top 32 runners.

The only option that the Knights have now is to maintain the level of excellence that they have had throughout the entire season. The teams are in a great position largely due to that fact that some of their runners had unbelievable race times. Miles-Rath completed the eight-kilometer race with a time of 24:02.62, helping the Knights hold on to their victory. Goodman and Knott were the first two finishers of the women’s six-kilometer competition, finishing in under 21:12.00.

“They put themselves on the map. They ran the best races of their lives and they answered the bell,” head coach Mike Woods said.

Now in good standing, the Knights can look ahead to Saturday Oct. 4 when they host the Geneseo Invitational at Letchworth State Park. The competition looks stiff; teams including Dickinson College pose a real threat to the Knights’ goal for victory.

“I don’t think that I need to stress this one as much; the athletes seem to know what’s at stake,” Woods said.

After Saturday, things start to cool down for the Knights. They will have two weeks off before going back to work on Oct. 18 at the Inter-Regional Rumble in Oberlin, Ohio. The two weeks off should be a welcome rest for both teams, who will have had six races in the past four weeks. It will give them the time that they need to recover from injuries and take a break from the mid-season grind.

Although the Geneseo cross country teams have made this season look relatively easy so far, they have had a difficult season. Anytime that you finish first or second at the Pre-NCAAs, your team is going to be a bit tired the next weekend. The Knights are going to have to overcome their fatigue if they plan on winning this coming meet, something on the top of their to-do list.