Women’s lacrosse ranked 18 in polls

As spring inches nearer, so does the women’s lacrosse season. If the team performs anything like they did last season, then they are sure to impress. The Knights went 14-3, winning all five of their home games and averaging 26 shots and 11 goals per game—all while shooting at a spectacular 43 percent. The women made it all the way to the SUNYAC finals, losing to SUNY Fredonia 8-3.

In a Feb. 1 poll, Geneseo was ranked 18th in the nation for Division III. This is a huge accomplishment and although it is no guarantee, the ranking points toward a great season ahead.

Out of the 28-person lineup from last season, only four of the women were graduating seniors—a remarkably low number. This is a great thing for the Knights, as it allows them to keep up the momentum from their 2015 season.

The lineup for this year includes eight freshmen, meaning the roster has depth. This is something that any sports team—at any level—is always in desperate need of.

Returning to the team are key scorers senior attacker Tara Basile and senior midfielder Liz Felix. Both Basile and Felix were second and third on the team in points last season respectively, with Basile racking up 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points and Felix contributing an impressive 39 goals and one assist for 40 points.

Sophomore midfielder Erin Cregan will also look to remain heavily involved in the offense, as she started every game of her freshman campaign. Cregan was fourth on the team in points last season with 26, putting up 20 goals and six assists. Cregan was also the only freshman to start and play in all 17 games last season, which she will look to repeat in hopes of bringing the Knights back to the NCAA Tournament in May.

Defensively, the Knights took a hit with the loss of defender Aileen Kurpis ‘15. The Knights will rely heavily on senior defenders Meagan Cook and Bridget Lincoln and junior defender Jenelle Lightfoote to pick up the slack. These three players will be essential for the Knights’ defensive presence—one of the best in the SUNYAC.

Senior goalie Claudia Coleates returns to the team this year and if Geneseo wants to have another successful season, they will need her to come alive in goal. Coleates had a spectacular season in 2015, starting in 12 out of the 17 games and allowing the Knights to win 86 percent of their games. As a result of her impressive work for the team, Coleates was named to the first team All-SUNYAC.

If Geneseo wants to make it to the SUNYAC final again this year, however, the women’s lacrosse team is going to need another big year from not just a few players, but everyone.

Women's lacrosse ranked 18 in polls

As spring inches nearer, so does the women’s lacrosse season. If the team performs anything like they did last season, then they are sure to impress. The Knights went 14-3, winning all five of their home games and averaging 26 shots and 11 goals per game—all while shooting at a spectacular 43 percent. The women made it all the way to the SUNYAC finals, losing to SUNY Fredonia 8-3.

In a Feb. 1 poll, Geneseo was ranked 18th in the nation for Division III. This is a huge accomplishment and although it is no guarantee, the ranking points toward a great season ahead.

Out of the 28-person lineup from last season, only four of the women were graduating seniors—a remarkably low number. This is a great thing for the Knights, as it allows them to keep up the momentum from their 2015 season.

The lineup for this year includes eight freshmen, meaning the roster has depth. This is something that any sports team—at any level—is always in desperate need of.

Returning to the team are key scorers senior attacker Tara Basile and senior midfielder Liz Felix. Both Basile and Felix were second and third on the team in points last season respectively, with Basile racking up 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points and Felix contributing an impressive 39 goals and one assist for 40 points.

Sophomore midfielder Erin Cregan will also look to remain heavily involved in the offense, as she started every game of her freshman campaign. Cregan was fourth on the team in points last season with 26, putting up 20 goals and six assists. Cregan was also the only freshman to start and play in all 17 games last season, which she will look to repeat in hopes of bringing the Knights back to the NCAA Tournament in May.

Defensively, the Knights took a hit with the loss of defender Aileen Kurpis ‘15. The Knights will rely heavily on senior defenders Meagan Cook and Bridget Lincoln and junior defender Jenelle Lightfoote to pick up the slack. These three players will be essential for the Knights’ defensive presence—one of the best in the SUNYAC.

Senior goalie Claudia Coleates returns to the team this year and if Geneseo wants to have another successful season, they will need her to come alive in goal. Coleates had a spectacular season in 2015, starting in 12 out of the 17 games and allowing the Knights to win 86 percent of their games. As a result of her impressive work for the team, Coleates was named to the first team All-SUNYAC.

If Geneseo wants to make it to the SUNYAC final again this year, however, the women’s lacrosse team is going to need another big year from not just a few players, but everyone.

Knight of Week: Tim Wright

Most collegiate varsity athletes remain on one team throughout their entire college careers, giving them four years to prove themselves and to earn their starting positions. Geneseo men’s lacrosse junior attacker Tim Wright, however, earned his spot when he transferred to Geneseo his sophomore year.

Wright immediately proved that he was a good addition to the team—Wright fit in with the players right away, demonstrating the leadership qualities that have helped the team as a whole ever since. Being the only returning starter on attack this year, Wright has to help out his fellow teammates so that they can have a successful season.

Wright hails from Waterloo, New York, where he started playing lacrosse at a very young age. Lacrosse is a big part of the Wright family, hence the reason that Wright began playing so early on. He explained that with his father helping out the community’s youth lacrosse program, lacrosse became something his whole family participated in.

When the Wright family is not playing lacrosse, though, they are tending to their family-owned Christmas tree farm. With this experience, Wright has had an intriguing home life—one that has influenced Wright to become not only the player, but also the person whom he is today.

Wright’s collegiate lacrosse career began at Post University in Waterbury, Conneticut—a Division II team.

“I was a freshman starter and led the team in assists and was third in points,” Wright said. “It was not a great fit for me. I believe coming to Geneseo was one of the best decisions I have made.”

Wright has become a key player on the Geneseo lacrosse team. After playing Division II, he was the new, skilled player the Knights desperately needed in addition to his immense knowledge of the game.

Having lacrosse experience and skills is not enough to help bring a team success, however. A player also needs a good personality, which Wright certainly has. Wright explained that he tries to use his energy and positive attitude to lift the team’s spirits when necessary. Wright’s ability to determine the right times to joke around and to be serious is a quality that all teams need in a player. He knows when to lift the mood to put his teammates in a better mindset and when to step up and be a leader.

Wright is majoring in communication on the journalism and media track. He noted that he aspires to find a job in the advertising or marketing fields for a professional sports team. With one year left at Geneseo, he still has time to prepare for the real world while also reaching his goal of leading the team to a SUNYAC title.

Women's lacrosse returns to postseason play

As the women’s lacrosse season comes to a close, the Knights earned the third seed in the SUNYAC Tournament, finishing the regular season with a conference record of 6-2 and an overall record of 13-2. Geneseo matched up against Buffalo State in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday April 28, defeating the Bengal Tigers 12-3. Since the Knights finished with the third seed, they had the advantage of a home game in the first round. After beating the Bengals, the rest of the tournament will be played at SUNY Cortland—the Red Dragons clinched home field advantage for the SUNYAC Tournament by clinching the top seed. But according to head coach Carly Ritchlin, her players are taking this tournament one game at a time.

“Cortland has hosted 11 of the 12 years I have been here, so for us to play there in the postseason is something our team is used to. We always end up playing there for the postseason at least once,” Ritchlin said. “But before we get to that point, we are just focusing on our next opponent—because if we cannot get past them, we do not advance in the postseason.”

Cortland has dominated the SUNYAC Conference, winning 17 of the conference’s 18 tournaments. Geneseo will need to be ready both physically and mentally in order to succeed.

“I tell our team before every game that when we execute our stuff and play how we are capable of, we are the best team out there. We truly are a special group when we operate efficiently and play how we have practiced,” Ritchlin said. “The teams that get the farthest in the postseason are the ones that come together and are able to perform under the pressure of the tournament and simply compete.”

This season the Knights have gotten a lot of support from their defense—these players have been able to anchor down and stop teams from going on a scoring frenzy. Ritchlin noted, however, that she would like to see her offense produce more in order to really put out the best effort.

“Our defense has been huge for us this year because they are always the ones that keep us ahead in games and put us in a position to win. It is crucial that our offense picks it up in the postseason because I still think they have not reached their potential,” she said. “Do not get me wrong, they have done a great job all season, but I have seen how good they can be—our offense is scary good when they are playing well together.”

For the four seniors on this team, the SUNYAC Tournament could be the last time they play organized lacrosse. Conversely, the nine freshman players are experiencing their first tournament. Watching these two groups mesh together has been what Ritchlin described as “the reason I love coaching here.”

“Geneseo is a special program because our team is so close knit. Our team is very coachable—they come in wanting to get better every day, which I am very thankful for,” she said. “For the seniors, I am positive that they are going to leave everything out there, and I feel as if the first-years will follow suit. It should be interesting how everything works out.”

The Knights will take on SUNY Fredonia at Cortland on Friday May 1 in the semifinals of the SUNYAC Tournament.

Men’s lacrosse loses sixth straight game

Coming off a loss to SUNY Plattsburgh on Saturday April 4, the Geneseo men’s lacrosse team hoped to bounce back against SUNY Cortland in its first home game of the season. But a home atmosphere doesn’t guarantee anything—the Knights fell 11-9 to the Red Dragons on Wednesday April 8. The Knights are in the thick of their schedule with many tough games ahead. The Red Dragons are in first place in the SUNYAC, followed closely by Plattsburgh. Nevertheless, head coach Jim Lyons was optimistic before the game against Cortland.

“With the way that we played in the second half on Saturday, I think that it is well within us to pull out a victory,” he said. In the second half against Plattsburgh, the Knights kept it close with a goal differential of 4-6. “If we had had two halves of the game like our second half, then we could have won that game,” he added.

But there is some good news out there for the Knights. After being confined to a gym for most practices this season, the Knights were able to get in a home game. Playing at home allows the players to eat and sleep where they are comfortable and is extremely advantageous.

“Playing at home is something that I wish we could have been doing all season,” Lyons said. “The players are more comfortable at home, their families get a chance to see them play and they don’t have to sleep in a hotel room. Everything about home games is better.”

Having lost six straight games, Geneseo is going to have to pull out all the stops if the Knights want to go far in the postseason. As Lyons said, they will need to play an entire game instead of just playing strong individual halves. That is much easier said than done, however. The Knights are going to have to rely on their strong offensive and defensive capabilities, which have shone brightly at certain times. If they can manage to do those things, it could put them back on track heading into the tail end of their season.

The Knights will play at St. John Fisher College on Saturday April 11 and will host SUNY Oneonta—barring inclement weather—on Tuesday April 14.

Women’s lacrosse falls to fifth ranked Cortland

The Geneseo women’s lacrosse team is off to a 2-1 start in SUNYAC play. After defeating SUNY New Paltz 12-6, SUNY Cortland defeated the Knights 17-7. This was Geneseo’s first loss of the season after a hot start—winning six straight games. The Knights then beat SUNY Oswego 12-6 on Tuesday April 7. But as junior defender Bridget Lincoln said, the loss to Cortland was a minor speed bump in the grand scheme of things. “They are a really good team, so it’s not really rebounding from the loss but rather fixing what we already do well to get a better result next time,” Lincoln said. “If we can correct mistakes and handle what we can control, then we can move on and get to a better place in the conference.”

The Knights only dropped one spot in the national rankings—they’re now 18th. They have seven games left before the SUNYAC Tournament. The Knights have made it to the conference championship the past two years, but lost to Cortland in the finals both times. This year’s team, however, has a different camaraderie, something that Lincoln attributes to their successes.

“We all get along so well and we have great chemistry on and off the field,” Lincoln said. “We are able to work hard together and we all want the same thing so it makes practices and games a lot easier.”

Of the Knights’ five remaining SUNYAC games, four are against unranked opponents. This should allow Geneseo to get some major work in before the team has to potentially face Cortland again. The Knights are also looking to reaching the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year. Although the end goal is to get as far as possible, Lincoln and the rest of the Geneseo team have the mentality of “one game at a time.”

“If we look ahead to the end of the season, we would be getting ahead of ourselves and lose focus. Instead, we like to only take the game in front of us and that opponent, because that is what will get us to postseason play,” Lincoln said. “Our most important game is the next game and that has been our motto since the first day of practice.”

As with any team, coaching is a big part of the team’s success. Head coach Carly Ritchlin has given the women keys to succeed and the players have recognized her efforts—her will to win rubs off on the team.

“She is great, she is honestly one of the best coaches I have had. She knows how to get us all to work together and always prepares us for our next game very well,” Lincoln said. “She pushes us to work hard and, if you saw the amount of effort she puts into each practice and game, you would want to match that intensity and match it to put your best effort out there every time you step on the field.”

The Knights will face Buffalo State at Webster Schroeder High School on Thursday April 9.