Cross country season ends at national meet

Although the Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams did not achieve their ultimate goal of being on the podium at the NCAA meet, the Knights’ season was by no means a failure. Winning the SUNYAC Tournaments, earning an automatic qualifying bid to the national races—these events made the Knights’ season very successful by any measure. Throughout the season, individual athletes rose above the level of the competition on multiple occasions. Senior Cassie Goodman held an excellent form for the entire season, as well as fellow senior Cohen Miles-Rath who also ran extremely well.

“Our seniors did a great job the whole year,” outgoing head coach Mike Woods said. “Cohen, Cassie, [senior] Alyssa [Knott], they did a real good job providing leadership.”

The leadership from those seniors and more led to the Knights being a very cohesive unit, allowing them to be able to run better as a whole. By being able to gel as a unit, the Knights performed well beyond their peers for the entire season.

Although neither cross country team ended up on the podium, their prospects heading into next season seem to be very bright. Some seniors who played an integral part in this season’s success will be graduating in the spring, but many of the underclassmen are poised to be as good as—if not better than—than many of those runners.

With runners like sophomore Alfredo Mazzuca––who only improved as the season went along––freshman Kristen Homeyer––who finished 84th at the NCAA Championships for the women’s team at the nationals––and freshman Isaac Garcia-Cassani––who finished 203rd for the men at nationals––the Knights should be greatly improved by next season.

One thing that the Knights excelled at during this season and in seasons past has been group identity.

“There’s a real sense of community within the teams,” senior team manager Ben Wach said. “They go out there and they support the other runners and it’s really great to watch.” Geneseo is always one of the teams at meets with the most supporters, something that I believe is a true marker of how cohesive our teams and our school is.

“We pretty much always have the most supports out there out of any team,” Woods said. “The other coaches are always asking me how I do it, and I tell them that it’s just a part of our school.”

Being able to go out there and support their fellow teammates is something that just comes naturally to the runners on both teams. With a solid team foundation and a strong class filled with talented, supportive runners coming up, the future looks extremely bright for the Knights.

XC prepares for national meet

The Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams had successful outings on Saturday Nov. 15—both teams finished second at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regionals at the University of Rochester at Genesee Valley Park. Both teams secured their spots at the national races coming up on Saturday Nov. 22 at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Led by senior Cohen Miles-Rath, the men’s team came into the race with high expectations. Runners like freshmen Alexander Burks and Isaac Garcia-Cassani continued their excellent campaigns by rounding out the top five runners for the Knights on the men’s side.

On the women’s side, runners such as freshman Kristen Homeyer—who recently won the SUNYAC Rookie of the Year award along with Garcia-Cassani—and sophomore Marissa Bellusci helped to give the Knights their second place finish.

Such consistent races from younger runners have been a staple of the Knights’ season. “That’s a big pressure race for [our younger runners] to step up and they certainly did it,” head coach Mike Woods said.

The Knights were able to preserve their streak of 16 straight NCAA appearances for the women and 12 consecutive appearances for the men’s team.

“We now hold the longest active streak in the country of having both the men and the women qualify for the NCAAs,” Woods said. “No one else around here is doing anything like that.” With such consistency throughout the years, it’s not hard to imagine that the Knights have some big expectations for themselves.

The Knights are in excellent position to make an impact at the NCAA Tournament. Because the teams both had top two finishes, they automatically qualified for the finals, taking just a bit of stress off of their shoulders.

When they arrive in Mason, Ohio for the NCAAs, they will just have to treat it like any other race. That’s the way that they have been treating every race this season and it is the same situation going forward.

Of course, winning the championship is the ultimate goal, but the individual runners have had some excellent seasons that would qualify as having met expectations. Having two runners sweep the Rookie of the Year awards in addition to six runners from the men’s team and eight from the women’s team named to the All-SUNYAC team is a remarkable feat.

Cross country on the doorstep of nationals

With two victories at the SUNYAC Championships behind them, the Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams can look forward to a two-week break before heading to the University of Rochester for the Atlantic Regionals on Nov. 15. The Knights found success throughout the entire team. Top finishers on the men’s side were sophomore Alfredo Mazzuca and senior Cohen Miles-Rath. On the women’s side, senior Cassie Goodman and sophomore Marissa Bellusci were the top runners. The top finisher for the Knights on the men’s side was Mazzuca, a transfer student who hit his stride just as the season had started moving. “I am almost never satisfied with my performances,” Mazzuca said. “That is what motivates me to strive for further, more difficult goals.” That is exactly the attitude the Knights will need going forward if they want to continue their hot streak.

As the Knights start looking ahead to Regionals, they have a new goal in mind: finishing in the top two. If they do, the Knights will lock up a spot at Nationals on Nov. 22. A top-five finish would put them into consideration for a spot. Even though the goal is, and always will be, to finish within the top two, head coach Mike Woods said he believes a top-five finish would be considered a success.

“If we finish in the top five, our strength of a schedule will get us in,” Woods said. “We have a really strong resume.” With multiple wins throughout the season for both the men’s and women’s teams along with a top-10 national ranking for both teams, the Knights should have no worries about securing a spot in the Nationals.

Still, Geneseo needs to be looking ahead to its ultimate goal—landing a spot on the podium at Nationals.

“We try not to become complacent with our current position,” Mazzuca said. “We know there is work to be done and we know that entering the race, we are definite contenders for the bids to Nationals.” With all of the runners adopting an attitude like that, there will be very little that can stop the Knights heading into this home stretch of the season.

Now that the cross country teams have gotten this far—and in such a dominating fashion––it would be a shame for them to lose their focus in the excitement. But no one on both teams wants to feel that way, however. They all have had a singular goal in mind since the beginning of the season: to stand at the podium at Nationals.

If the Knights can continue their march through the competition, they should have little trouble reaching or even surpassing their goals.

Top-ranked XC preps for conference meet

With two first-place finishes at the Inter-Regional Rumble held at Oberlin College on Oct. 18, the Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams are going to take a well-deserved break before they head into the rough part of their season. With another first place overall finish from senior Cassie Goodman, the women’s team had solid races from all of their top finishers—the Knights top seven runners all came in the top 23. Behind Goodman were sophomore Marissa Bellusci and juniors Ashton Hughes, Jacquie Huben and Rayanne Luke.

The men also had a successful day, with senior Cohen Miles-Rath finishing first for the Knights, 12th overall. The rest of the men’s top five runners all came within 20 places of each other. Behind Miles-Rath were sophomore Alfredo Mazzuca, junior Brendan Wortner, freshman Alex Burks and sophomore Adam Murphy.

With nationals fast-approaching, the Knights are in fantastic position in the regional rankings—first overall. Geneseo has not won a regional title since 2010. The women are also in great position, ranked second in the region.

Some of the teams that are ranked behind the men had good performances over the weekend of Oct. 18. Given the slippery conditions that were present at the course, the men and women should both remain where they are.

“The conditions were truly terrible,” head coach Mike Woods said. “It was real bad and it slowed some people down, but others definitely stepped up.” With the conditions feeling like a mud pit at Oberlin, the Knights powered through and gave strong performances.

With both teams winning on Oct. 18, they now have the weekend of Saturday Oct. 25 off before heading back to work on Nov. 1 for the SUNYAC Championships at SUNY Brockport. The cross country teams can now take this time off to buckle down and get ready for the SUNYAC championships that are ahead of them.

With the leadership of runners like Goodman, senior Keira Wood, Miles-Rath and senior Tim Mateer, these runners have given the Knights guidance throughout the season. They will need to continue their leadership throughout the remainder of what could be a tough schedule for the Knights. Even though the teams both look to be in good position, they can’t afford to let their guard down now when their goals are within sight.

Nationally ranked XC shines at Letchworth

Head coach Mike Woods has led the cross country team to a high national ranking, giving the runners a chance to contend at the NCAA meet in November.

Victory on Saturday Oct. 4 was especially sweet for the Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams. Not only did the teams put themselves in an excellent position going forward for the rest of the season, but the win came on home turf at Letchworth State Park. Coming off great performances at the Pre-NCAA meet on Sept. 27, the Knights had a tough job ahead of them. They had a week from Sept. 27 to prepare for the Geneseo Invitational, the yearly meet held at Letchworth. Even with such a quick turnaround, both teams put up stellar performances. The men’s and the women’s teams both placed first out of 21 and 19 teams, respectively.

“I was very happy with our results,” head coach Mike Woods said. “We were able to tighten the pack. We were able to cut [our pack time] in half from last week.”

The only reason that the men’s time was so much closer at the Geneseo Invitational as opposed to the Pre-NCAA meet was that senior Cohen Miles-Rath, while still running a very good time at 25:10.4, ran the race of his life at the Pre-NCAA meet.

Transfer sophomore Alfredo Mazzuca ran a second ahead of Miles-Rath, leading the men’s team into the finish. This was Mazzuca’s first time finishing first for the Knights. Behind Mazzuca and Miles-Rath were junior Brendan Wortner and sophomore Adam Murphy with times of 25:11.1 and 25:14.4. Freshman Isaac Garcia-Cassani was the fifth finisher for the men with a time of 25:33.2.

The women also had a close cluster of finishers. Their first five in––senior Cassie Goodman, senior Alyssa Knott, senior Joanna Castrogivanni, sophomore Marissa Bellusci and junior Jacquie Huben––all finished within 45 seconds of each other. Goodman was the first finisher overall with a time of 21:29.4—beating second place by an incredible 14 seconds.

With the utter domination at Letchworth behind them, the teams now look ahead to the Inter-Regional Rumble in Oberlin, Ohio on Oct. 18. For now, however, they can put that on the back burner. The most important thing for both teams now is that they rest and recover their bodies and minds.

“I think that this break is coming at a good midpoint in the season,” Goodman said. “A weekend off to mentally revamp like this will be good for everyone.” After having four races over these past four weekends including the Pre-NCAAs, all of the athletes can recover both physically and mentally. “Your brain is a muscle too, so giving that a bit of a break is always good,” Goodman said.

With fall break on the horizon, the Knights can look back on a half season for the books. Both teams have nine total top-five finishes, with the women winning the Pre-NCAAs and the men placing second. With those finishes, the Knights look to be in excellent standing with the national polls. Both teams are currently ranked in the top 10. When the NCAA Tournament comes in mid-November, this will work in Geneseo’s favor. The men’s and women’s teams both could be poised to end up on the podium.

“I think we have a really good shot––both teams––to end up on the podium this season. It’s totally doable,” Goodman said. The seniors’ last shot for a championship looks to be in a great place heading into the break, as long as the Knights refuse to let up.

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.

XC prepared to compete with top teams

With the Pre-NCAA meet just ahead on Saturday Sept. 27, the Geneseo Knights men’s and women’s cross country teams are getting ready to head to Mason, Ohio. The Knights will face some of the stiffest competition they will face all year. Coming off a meet that the Knights were treating as practice, the teams should both be prepared for what is ahead of them. While both the men’s and women’s teams raced on Saturday Sept. 20, they treated it as more of a practice run, with the Knights going easier for the first few miles and then hard for the home stretch. Even with the teams not going full force at this meet, both managed to end up with top-five finishes, a good sign for upcoming meets.

The Pre-NCAAs are a precursor to the actual NCAA meet in November. It’s important that Geneseo can perform to its full potential.

“Some of the best teams in the country are going to be there and [the Knights] know that they belong, and I think that they’re excited to go,” said head coach Mike Woods.

With 30 teams competing and hundreds of racers, this meet is going to be a real test for Geneseo that the team must be prepared to take.

While the Pre-NCAAs are the teams’ main concern this weekend, some of the team will be traveling to Rochester to compete in the Harry F. Anderson Invitational. 30 teams will also be going to this meet, meaning there will be some stiff competition. It will be difficult to continue the excellent record that the Knights have maintained throughout the season so far. Luckily, the team has had a decent amount of time off from their last meets.

“That was by design,” said Woods. “I didn’t want to race three hard races in a row. Actually four, because we have the Geneseo Invitational coming up, so I just wanted to give my guys a break.”

The Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams really have to buckle down and put their noses to the grindstone. The competition in Ohio will be no joke, and according to Woods, the Knights are prepared to do whatever it takes to win this meet.

Cross country looking strong after Division I meet

With both the Geneseo men’s and the women’s cross country teams finishing sixth at the Harry Groves Spike Shoe Invitational at Pennsylvania State University, the Knights came out of their respective meets with high hopes. The Knights left University Park, Pennsylvania on Saturday Sept. 13 with their heads held high, having been able to hold their own against Division I opponents Penn State, Syracuse University, Georgetown University, St. Joseph’s University and the University of Pittsburgh.

Fellow SUNYAC competitor and rival SUNY Cortland was also at the meet. The Red Dragons finished two spots behind the Knights, much to the delight of coach Mike Woods.

“I don’t care if it’s Tiddlywinks or KanJam, it always feels good to beat Cortland,” he said.

Geneseo also sent a squad of runners to the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagle Cross Country Invitational. The women’s team came in second, while the men’s team did not register for a finish because it failed to send enough athletes to the meet. The real importance of that meet lies in the fact that the Brockport course is going to be where the SUNYAC Championships are being held. The runners who went to Brockport had a sneak peak of the course and this information can only help their teammates.

These two meets are very encouraging for the Knights, who are eagerly anticipating more high profile meets later in the season.

“We still have to get to the meat of our schedule…Our racers are chomping at the bit to get going with their training and further races,” Woods said.

“The top 10 racers—I’m going to hold them back a bit, but everyone else is going to go as hard as they can, trying to get a spot for the Pre-Nationals,” Woods said. “Our team is going to go real hard for all of these meets that are coming up.”

The Knights' biggest upcoming test, Pre-Nationals, will be in Mason, Ohio.

“We’re going to race real hard. It’s going to be the first time that I tell them, ‘Look, we want to finish as high as we can’,” Woods said. The top two finishers from each region receive an automatic bid from the NCAAs, something the Knights expect to do every season.

The Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams are both looking forward from their successful meets. Both squads, however, are looking a little beyond their next meet—with their eyes on the Pre-Nationals. As of now, that is the big prize they are working for. And, if their results from their past meets are any indication, then they will be fully able to realize their goals. The Knights next race is the Yellowjacket Invitational at the University of Rochester on Saturday Sept. 20.

Out of Bounds: A Beginner's guide to the EPL

The English Premier League, commonly known as the EPL, is perhaps the greatest of the many professional soccer leagues across the world. 20 teams play 38 games over the course of 10 months from August until May. Each team plays one home and one away game against every team. Formed in 1992, the EPL is the top tier of English soccer with three other leagues beneath it: the Football League Championship, League One and League Two. All of the teams in these leagues play at a professional level but there are many, many more leagues beneath League Two. There are actually more than 140 different leagues with more than 7,000 different teams. That’s a lot of soccer.

The way that professional soccer works in England is that the bottom three teams of each league are relegated to the league below it. The top two teams are promoted up to the league above them, with the remaining top four teams having a playoff for the last spot. So in theory, a group of guys could make a club at a bar and just keep getting promoted until they are in the Premier League. It’s never happened and it probably never will, but the thought of it is just exciting.

The entire league is based off of a point system. A team gets three points for a win, one point for a tie and zero points for a loss. The team with the most points at the end of the season is the winner. That’s it. No playoff, no final match––just points. The best team throughout the season is the best team.

Naturally, some teams are going to be toward the bottom of the Premier League each year and those are the ones that will be relegated at the end of the season. Those teams are then sent down to the Championship League, directly below the EPL. Coming up for this season are Leicester City, Burnley and the Queens Park Rangers. Cardiff City, Fulham and Norwich City are being demoted down to the Championship League.

With 38 games to be played in 10 months, a game will pretty much always be on during the weekend. Soccer is not widely broadcast in America, but viewership is increasing. The rise in popularity of Major League Soccer has made the sport as popular as it has ever been in the U.S. With the 2014 FIFA World Cup still fresh in everyone’s minds and with the MLS squads’ quality of play improving rapidly, soccer will only continue to gain popularity in the United States.

The EPL is a great league for a fan to get into and the ties that one creates with a team are eternal. Moods will swing and friendships may even end due to team rivalries, but it’s all worth it to be able to watch some of the highest quality soccer in the world.

Cross-Country starts season with top 10 finishers

In what would end up being a banner day, both the Geneseo men’s and women’s cross country teams won their respective meets on Aug. 29. Both teams ended up with seven top-10 finishers in each race, with the men’s team having three runners in the top five.Interestingly, the Knights sent their B-team to the event, giving the rest of the league a good look at their depth. Coach Mike Woods elected to send all of the team's freshmen to the event so that he could give them a taste of what’s to come in their athletic careers. “All the freshmen ran just so that they could get used to the college distance...I do this every year. I try to race the best athletes as little as possible,” Woods said. “This was a pretty low-key event, but our guys were going up against the other teams’ best.” The Knights can start looking forward to Sept. 13 when they will compete in the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational at Pennsylvania State University and in the Golden Eagle Invitational at SUNY Brockport. Geneseo will be going up against Division I opponents at Penn State, a fact not taken lightly by Coach Woods. “I’ll probably take the top 15 or so athletes on each team to Penn State and then I’ll take the other players to Brockport," Woods said. "Going up against DI competition, we’ll need to bring our best." The Knights will have to wait it out for the next week and a half until they get their chance to prove to prove themselves. With the knowledge that they will be facing formidable opponents soon, the Knights have high expectations going forward into the season. “We have two goals every season. One is the get invited to the NCAAs. That’s a big goal of ours every year. And second, we want to win the SUNYAC championship,” Woods said. “Plus, we want to be able to stay healthy so that we can do that.” This upcoming season looks to be another good year for the team, albeit a challenging one. The Knights have a tough September schedule, with five meets in just one month. They won’t get a chance to race on home turf until Oct. 4 at Letchworth State Park. The Knights will need to compete at a consistently high level all season to reach their goals, but if their performance at this past meet is any indication of the future, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

One playoff chance left for men’s lacrosse

With just one game remaining in the regular season, the Geneseo men’s lacrosse team is looking to keep its playoff chances alive. The Knights sit at 2-3 in the conference, and winning their final game against SUNY Potsdam might just be enough to stay ahead of SUNY Oneonta and sneak into the SUNYAC tournament.

It is not going to be easy, however, since Potsdam is second in the conference standings, sitting right beneath SUNY Cortland.

The Knights are still just taking one game at a time, as they have been all season.

“You do yourself a disservice when you look ahead … we like to focus on the here and now,” head coach Jim Lyons said.

The Knights took on No. 1 Cortland on Tuesday April 22 and lost 14-3. The loss was uncharacteristic for the Knights during a season marked by its close games. The Red Dragons blew it open early with five goals in the first quarter. Despite being shut out in the second, Cortland scored six in the third – after which the score was 11-3. Geneseo only took 10 shots in the game to the Red Dragons’ 33.

Facing the top two teams in the conference to close the season is not something any team would necessarily want, but the good news for Geneseo is that they get to play their last game at home – something that they have not been able to do a whole lot this season. The Knights have only played two games at home so far, mainly due to the poor weather.

Lyons believes that being able to close out the season at home will end up being a huge bonus for his team.

“It’s fantastic. There’s no doubt that having to travel wears on you,” he said. “Playing at home is fantastic, playing at home in nice weather is even better. It’s a great reward for a long season.”

The Knights will have to win their last game to get into the conference tournament, and if they do, they will end up traveling to an opposing team’s field, depriving them of a home game that they would much rather prefer.

The goal in the beginning of the season was simple: to make the NCAA tournament. That goal is still within reach for the Knights. They just need to take advantage of the final homestand of the season.

Men’s lax playoff sights diminish

For the Geneseo men’s lacrosse team, this season hasn’t gone according to plan, but that has not deterred its players. The Knights are currently sitting at 3-7 with three games to go – guaranteeing them a sub-.500 record.

All three of the remaining games should be winnable for the team, due to the extra time the Knights have had to prepare. They dropped their last game to St. John Fisher College on Saturday April 12. According to head coach Jim Lyons, having more time to prep is an extremely valuable thing.

“Having the extra time is always a benefit. We were able to give the guys a day off, then watch a day worth of film which we haven’t been able to do recently due to so many games,” he said. “We now have three good days on the field to prepare for an important conference game.”

The break in play should allow any bumps and bruises to heal by next game – leaving the mental side of the game left to be handled. With many of their losses coming by just one goal, the Knights have naturally been dealing with frustration.

“Losing so many one-goal games puts a strain on us mentally, but that is something that we sort out every day in practice,” Lyons said.

The extra practices should provide ample time for the team to sort out how to stop SUNY Oswego on Saturday April 19.

If Geneseo can win its last games of the year, then the conference tournament is very much within reach – and once there, the team can wipe the slate clean and start over.

The message Lyons has been preaching all year is to take the season one game at a time.

“It could be three games left, or one game or 10 games the message is the same. Practice hard, prepare for the next game and focus on the task in front of you,” Lyons said of his coaching philosophy.

With the season winding down, this mentality might be the Knights last shot into the SUNYACs.

After the Lakers, the Knights face SUNY Cortland and SUNY Potsdam, currently the first and second seeded teams in the conference, respectively.

Out of Bounds: UConn achieves recipe for success

Over the past 20 years, there has only been one school worth knowing in college basketball: the University of Connecticut. The men’s and women’s teams have 13 championship titles combined in less than two decades – four for the men, nine for the women. That’s a total of 13 possible titles in 20 years. That’s unbelievable. There hasn’t been a stretch of basketball greatness at that level since coach John Wooden’s years at the University of California at Los Angeles. Since the Huskies won their first title in 1999, there have only been three teams to win more than one title in that span: Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of  Florida – all with two titles to UConn’s four.

Former head coach Jim Calhoun singlehandedly built the program up from nothing into a national power. He arrived there in 1986 and within five years, they were a nationally known team; having reached the Elite Eight in 1990. Throughout the ‘90s their presence was always there, despite never reaching the top goal.

If a team’s quality is determined by the NBA players it produces, then you know that UConn is the real deal. Some former Huskies include Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Rudy Gay and most recently, Kemba Walker.

Among women’s basketball teams, UConn has pretty much been the team to beat since the ‘90s. In his UConn career, head coach Geno Auriemma accrued his first title in ‘95 and three Final Four appearances in ‘91, ‘95 and ‘96. Since then, he has come to be revered as one of the best coaches in the game.

Auriemma has won more games faster than anyone else in basketball history. There have only been eight undefeated seasons in women’s college basketball, and the Huskies own five of them. Two of the four wins came in back-to-back seasons, ‘08-‘09 and ‘09-‘10, and saw UConn win an incredible 90 games in a row.

This many games consecutively won holds the record; it’s two more wins than Wooden’s teams ever achieved.

In my lifetime, the Huskies have won more championships than any other collegiate or professional team. Even the programs separately have won more titles than most teams ever have, and that’s only in 20 years.

Let’s just take a look at one year in particular – 2004. That year, the men’s program won the title as a No. 2 seed. One day later, the women took the title of a No. 2 seed as well. Both teams won that same year. That feat was never subsequently accomplished until this year – both of the Huskies’ teams won once again.

It’s pretty amazing to think that if you didn’t know anything about college basketball and had to guess the winner in any season of past 20 years, you pretty much have a one-in-four chance of guessing correctly if you say UConn. Twenty-five percent of the past men’s and women’s titles have belonged to the Huskies. The only comparable feat to this is UCLA’s seven consecutive championships.

Simply put, the show runners at UConn have captured lightning in a bottle. And they aren’t planning on releasing it anytime soon.

Faceoffs crucial for men’s lax

In lacrosse, the faceoff is one of the most important aspects of the game; the team that wins the faceoff is the team that controls possession and the game clock. Gaining the edge on faceoffs can be the difference between a win and a loss. It is something that a team will “live and die by,” as head coach Jim Lyons put it.

Senior defensive midfielder Joe Cicio is one of the Knights that takes the faceoffs this season. At 47 percent, he is extremely close to the 50 percent mark that Lyons would like of his players. Cicio says his approach in each faceoff is simply to be as aggressive as possible to win the ball.

Freshman Ian Moeser is the other player taking faceoffs for the Knights. He is converting 37.8 percent of the time and needs some experience, according to Lyons.

The Knights are currently winning the faceoff just 42.2 percent of the time.

There is a silver lining, however. In games they have won, Geneseo has converted better than 50 percent of its faceoffs, while just converting 35 percent in losses.

“In our wins, we were simply the better faceoff team,” Lyons said.

He went on to discuss the game against Clarkson University that saw the Knights win just two of 20 faceoffs – only 10 percent.

“There was one game where I think we only ended up with around 2-20 faceoffs, and if you take that one game out of the picture, we’re a better than 50 percent team,” Lyons said. “Some teams have different strategies for winning and the faceoff is one that Geneseo considers to be of the utmost importance.”

“We’ve been spending a lot of time in practice, it’s one of the things that we focus on a considerable amount,” he added. “You just have to keep working at it. There’s no magic wand for getting better as a faceoff team. Experience, time and being able to make adjustments are what we need.”

Editor’s note:

The men’s lacrosse team won 7-6 in overtime against SUNY Brockport on Wednesday April 9. Sophomore midfielder Joe Chiara had three goals on the day and junior attack Steven Cregan had four assists. 

The Knights host St. John Fisher College on Saturday April 12.

Men’s lacrosse drops three in a row

Following two disappointing losses, the Geneseo men’s lacrosse team looked to strike a blow to Rochester Institute of Technology’s No. 1 nationally ranked team on Wednesday April 2. The Knights have gotten off to a 2-4 start, with both of their wins being blowouts and their losses all coming by just one goal. Nonetheless, the team is heading into the meat of its schedule; starting off by facing the formidable RIT team.

While RIT does carry that top national ranking next to its name, it doesn’t faze anyone on the Knights.

“We know that we can battle with anyone. We don’t fear RIT,” head coach Jim Lyons said. “We’ve seen them go out and have a tough time with lesser teams than Geneseo, so we know that if we do our job and prepare correctly we’ll be ready for what they do.”

RIT is going to be the toughest game of the season for the Knights by far. None of RIT’s opponents have scored more than 11 points in a game against them – except for the Tigers’ first game of the season – which is almost exactly what the Knights are averaging.

Geneseo is not that far behind the Tigers stats-wise. Both teams’ shot percentages are within six points of one another, as well as their clear percentages. The Tigers do score more points per game, but they also allow more goals per game than the Knights.

If the Knights do pull out a win against RIT, then they will have a much easier time the rest of their season. A win against the number one team in the country is obviously a good thing to have under their belt when it comes to tournament time. It could also act as a confidence booster for Geneseo.

A win would put Geneseo at 3-4, with games against SUNYAC foes SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Brockport coming up soon.

With the RIT game having been moved to Rochester, the Knights have yet to play a true home game this season – all of them have been at neutral sites or the opponents’ due to the weather.

If Geneseo can pull out an upset win at RIT, then there is nothing stopping this team from accomplishing any other goal.u

Editor’s note: 

The men’s lacrosse team fell to the RIT Tigers 22-6 on Wednesday April 2. 

Sophomore midfielder Joe Chiara scored two goals for the Knights in the loss. 

The Knights visit SUNY Oneonta for a 2:30 p.m game on Saturday April 5.