Knights remain undefeated after last-minute goal

An already great start has gotten better for the Geneseo women’s soccer team. After opening up the season with two wins in the Herb Lauffer Memorial Tournament, the Knights topped 21st-ranked Nazareth College 3-1 on Sept. 4 and St. John Fisher College 1-0 on Saturday Sept. 6. “Nazareth is one of the better teams we’ll play this year,” head coach Nathan Wiley said. “That’s the best a Geneseo women’s soccer team has played here in my nine or 10 years.” The concept of a “complete game” is something that eluded the Knights last season. Although their defense has always been strong, they often had trouble creating and finishing opportunities. Against Nazareth, Geneseo was able to combine its tight defense with eight shots on goal.

The second game of the weekend was much closer. The Knights and Cardinals were scoreless until the last 10 seconds of regulation. A misplayed ball from Fisher keeper Brooke Seavitt led to a goal from senior back/midfielder Erin Froehlich.

“The last 15-20 seconds [of the game] was just… what you want your team to do,” Wiley said.

“I was just so excited that I happened to be there at the right time,” Froehlich added.

The win, though much closer, told more about the team than any other game this season.

“We have a game plan. We have a way we want to play,” Wiley said. “The thing that was really impressive with our team [against Fisher] was that we did it for 90 minutes. We didn’t do it for 89 minutes and 50 seconds—we did it for 90 minutes.”

Froehlich was awarded the SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Week award for scoring the game-winner. Like sophomore back Patricia Galán, who won the Defensive Player of the Week last week, Froehlich won her award coming off the bench. The depth of this team has been reinforced by a new style of play put in by the coaching staff this season.

“It’s a system that has wide players in positions that we didn’t have before,” Wiley said. “[Froehlich’s] skill set fits in really well.”

As with any new system, many of the players had some trouble adjusting during spring practices.

“There was a learning curve with this,” Wiley said. “The first couple days of preseason we had quite a few players that were awestruck and confused.”

Although she was originally one of the skeptics, Froehlich said she has opened up to the new system.

“At first it was weird but now that we’ve gotten used to it, I think I see a lot more potential,” she said. “It’s giving us more opportunities offensively.”

The new system has absolutely been a success so far. At this point last season, the team had only scored one goal. They have scored seven this season. And with only one goal allowed over four games, the defense is also doing its job extremely well.

This next week will be critical for the Knights. After traveling to Alfred University on Friday Sept. 12, Geneseo hosts Houghton College on Saturday Sept. 13 and the Rochester Institute of Technology on Tuesday Sept. 16. RIT is currently ranked 16 in the NSCAA Coaches poll.

Despite the tough schedule, Wiley’s confidence is still as strong as ever.

“I’m really excited for us moving forward [because] we seem to really believe in what we’re doing,” he said. “I think that’s going to lead to a lot more success for us.”u

Defensive drives Knights undefeated start

The Knights have always played some of the best defensive soccer in SUNYAC. The women’s team made sure to uphold that reputation, allowing just two shots on goal in two games at the Herb Lauffer Memorial Tournament in Pennsylvania on Aug. 30 and Sunday Aug. 31.Sophomore Patricia Galán was named SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Week for her performance in the tournament. “I was having a very bad morning… then my friend told me [I won the award],” Galán said. “There was a smile on my face the rest of the day.” In the first game, Geneseo topped Baldwin Wallace 2-0 with goals coming from freshman back Leah Greene and senior midfielder/forward Jori Semrau. Greene also picked up an assist on Semaru’s goal. They dynamic between the nine veteran upperclassmen and the 19 freshmen and sophomores will be interesting to watch as the season progresses. “Our upperclassmen are very instrumental,” head coach Nate Wiley said. “Even though they’re smaller classes [than the freshmen and sophomores], they’re very good classes.” The sophomore class is particularly large, comprising more than a third of the team. According to Wiley, the experience that the athletes gained last year will help a lot this season. “The experience those young players gained last year is helping us with the depth early on,” Wiley said. “We came in this year with players already having the expectation of… playing and being valuable contributors game in and game out.” “This year we’re just so much more connected,” Galán—a member of that sophomore class—said. “We’re like a powerhouse.” Game two of the tournament highlighted the team’s growing cohesiveness even more. Sophomore midfielder Emily Green came off the bench and scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 win over Oberlin College. Coach Wiley said that even the players who did not take the field during this tournament will probably have the opportunity soon. “Out of the 28 players on our roster, I’m confident in all 28,” Wiley said. “Players like Leah [Greene] and Emily [Green] coming off the bench are just prime examples of how we’re able to change the game a little bit and still have great success.” The Knights have six games before SUNYAC play begins, the most important of those being at home Sept. 16 against the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Tigers are ranked 21st in the preseason poll and beat 2013 SUNYAC Champions SUNY Oneonta 2-0 to start their season. Although the hurdles are there, Wiley has high expectations for his team this season. “Our goal is—as it is most years—to win the conference. I feel that we’ve got a team that could do that,” he said. “This is a team that should at least be competing––if not winning––a conference championship.” “I hate losing,” Galán said. “I’m really aiming to go as far as we can, maybe win the SUNYAC Championship and go to the NCAAs.” Geneseo hosts Nazareth College at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday Sept. 4 and plays at St. John Fisher College on Saturday Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.

Women's soccer falls to Oneonta in SUNYAC championship

The Knights women’s soccer season came to an end on Saturday Nov. 9 in a 4-1 loss to SUNY Oneonta in the SUNYAC championship. Freshman Erin O’Connor had the only goal for the Knights. O’Connor’s play stepped up for the Knights down the stretch, scoring three of her eight total season goals in the playoffs.

“Everyone had momentum knowing we were going to SUNYACs,” O’Connor said, attributing much of her success to her teammates. “We practiced more set plays …  [head coach Nate Wiley] would also give us scouting reports to study.”

O’Connor’s performance throughout the season earned her third-team All-SUNYAC selection. Her play in the tournament earned her a spot on the 2013 SUNYAC All-Tournament team.

SUNYAC also honored midfielder senior Alexa Krebs and defender freshman Alexa Wandy at second-team, and goalkeeper senior Julia Sanger on the third team.

“We had good senior leadership,” Wiley said. “You deal with [losing players] every year … Some years it’s a bigger hit than others. This is one of those years.”

The Knights had eight seniors on the roster for the 2013 season, their most successful season at Geneseo.

“Everyone was really pleased [with the season], especially the seniors that had never made it to the finals,” O’Connor said. “Every step was new to everyone.”

“These are players that we’re going to miss a lot … not only for their play on the field but what they brought to our program off the field,” Wiley said.

Despite the loss of senior leaders including Sanger, Krebs and midfielder Alexa Vojvodic, the Knights are looking strong entering the 2014 season. One thing they will not lose is confidence.

“The success that we had at the end of the year will add to the confidence going into the offseason,” Wiley said. “We’ve got a pretty good [recruiting] class coming in for next year. We’ll be able to fill the gaps and replace those seniors that we lost.”

O’Connor echoed Wiley’s positivity.

“Our seniors were big, but we’ll find players to go in,” O’Connor said. “We [will] all know [Wiley’s] style of play.”

Next season, the Knights will want more than just a SUNYAC championship appearance.

“Going to SUNYAC finals your first year makes you want to do it every year,” O’Connor said.

“Next year [won’t] be about making it to the championship game but what are we doing all the way up to then,” Wiley said. “We’re not going to come in as a six seed next year. We need to come in as a top three or four seed.”

The desire to win and the talent will certainly be there for the Knights in 2014.

As Wiley said, there are “only good things to come.”

SUNYAC title within reach for women's soccer

The women’s soccer team is right where it wants to be: one win away from its first SUNYAC title since 2009. Geneseo upset third-seeded SUNY Cortland in penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 tie in 110 minutes on Saturday Nov. 2.

Both goals came early in the first half with freshman Erin O’Connor striking first in the 18th minute.

“Scoring early was something that we knew would be a tremendous advantage,” head coach Nate Wiley said, “With [Cortland], we don’t score a lot of goals … getting an early goal was certainly good for our confidence.”

That confidence carried over into the penalty kicks, when forward senior Kelly Quinn scored the deciding goal to carry the Knights into the SUNYAC semifinals.

“The biggest thing for us was that Cortland is one of the best teams in our conference,” Wiley said. “Scoring a goal early and giving us the confidence on the road I think is something we’ll hopefully be able to do on Wednesday [Nov. 6 against Buffalo State College].”

In the midweek matchup at Buffalo State, the Knights did just that. Geneseo jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes off goals from O’Connor and freshman Emily Green. The Knights held on to win 2-1.

Although she let in a goal, goalie senior Julia Sanger was instrumental in the victory. Her three second-half saves helped keep the Bengals at bay.

This win was a redemptive one for the Knights, who lost the first matchup with Buffalo State 1-0.

“We’re more of a different team from [the first game] than Buffalo State is,” Wiley said. He added that the players on the team are figuring out the roles they need to play to be successful. One of those players is certainly O’Connor, who scored four goals in the last five games.

The Knights take on top-seeded SUNY Oneonta on Saturday Nov. 9 for the title. This comes after a 2012 campaign in which the Knights went 3-10-3.

“We’re hitting our stride at the right time of year,” Wiley said.

2-0 weekend lifts women's soccer to playoffs

The goal was simple for the Geneseo women’s soccer team: win two games. The Knights were able to accomplish this goal by beating both SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26, respectively. In doing this, they clinched the sixth and final seed in the SUNYAC tournament and will play at SUNY Cortland on Saturday Nov. 2.

“Our confidence is as high as it’s been all year,” head coach Nate Wiley said. “It’s all about playing well.”

Geneseo outshot Potsdam 15-2 on its way to the 1-0 victory; more than half those shots were on goal. Geneseo only had 13 shots, however, compared to Plattsburgh’s 23 in the second game. Despite that difference, the Knights came out on top 3-2.

It is the first time this season that the Knights won two games in one weekend. Two wins right before the conference tournament is a huge confidence booster for the Knights, despite losing a relatively meaningless game against Elmira College 3-2 on Tuesday Oct. 29.

“It takes some time for teams to gel,” Wiley said, “We’ve figured some things out [throughout the season].”

Freshman Erin O’Connor stood out in both conference games. She scored in both games, bringing her season total to five goals. They were the first goals she had scored since Sept. 28.

“This last weekend should be a confidence booster for her,” Wiley said. He emphasized that O’Connor’s success was all part of a greater team effort, saying, “It has to do with the type of balls we’re playing for her.”

The Knights will try to maintain this mindset in the match against Cortland. Geneseo drew with the 2012 SUNYAC champions 1-1 earlier in the season, something that keeps Wiley optimistic.

“If we’re playing good soccer, I don’t think there are too many teams out there that can beat us,” he said. “We don’t want to make too many changes.”

If the Knights win on Saturday, they would play Buffalo State College on Wednesday Nov. 6. In their meeting this year, Buffalo State edged out Geneseo 1-0.

Despite being the lower seed, the Knights do have some statistics on their side. Mainly, they have outscored opponents 9-4 in games when they have at least one full day of rest before and after.

If Geneseo wins its next three games, the Knights will be crowned SUNYAC Champions and would make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.

Women's soccer playoff implications in limbo

With two SUNYAC games remaining in the season, the Geneseo women’s soccer team is transitioning into a must-win mindset. Despite a winless record over the past three games, the Knights hold the coveted sixth spot in SUNYAC standings. “A lot of our focus is just going to be on how we play – not focusing on wins and losses. Those things will take care of themselves,” head coach Nate Wiley said about the upcoming weekend. “Good soccer will win games for us. I think we’ve lost sight of that.”

Now is definitely the time for the Knights to regain that focus. Their last two conference games are Friday Oct. 25 at SUNY Potsdam and Saturday Oct. 26 at SUNY Plattsburgh – both opponents within two points of the Knights for the final playoff spot.

The way for the Knights to clinch a spot in the playoffs is pretty complicated. If they win both games, they’re in. If the Knights lose one game, they’re out. If they tie either game and win the other, then SUNY Fredonia has to lose or tie at least one of its games. The same goes for SUNY Brockport.

Basically, there are five teams playing for two spots: Brockport, Fredonia, Plattsburgh, Potsdam and Geneseo. All of those teams will play two games over the weekend.

With the intensified competition, the Knights are very lucky to have experienced goalkeeper senior Julia Sanger in net.

“She has certainly stood on her head at times and really given us an opportunity to stay in games and given us a chance to win virtually every game she’s stepped in net,” Wiley said.

Sanger has stepped up even more in her senior season. The Rochester native is fourth in SUNYAC in goals against average (.608), shutouts per game (.333) and saves per game (4.13). With her seven shutouts, she is undoubtedly the leader of this defensive-minded team.

Sanger is no stranger to winning either. In 2010, she helped the Fairport Red Raiders win the Section V Championship. That experience will be key to potential SUNYAC and NCAA tournament runs.

The SUNYAC tournament begins with a play-in on Nov. 2.

Women's soccer in hunt for top of SUNYAC table

Headed into the final month of regular season play, the women’s soccer team is right where it needs to be: the top half of the SUNYAC standings. To get there, the Knights beat SUNY Fredonia 1-0 on Saturday Sept. 28 and lost to Buffalo State College 1-0 the previous day.

“I think these are teams that we felt like we could have beaten both,” head coach Nate Wiley said.

Over both games, the Knights combined for 21 shots, four of which were from forward/midfielder freshman Erin O’Connor. O’Connor also had the go-ahead goal for the Knights against Fredonia, her third of the year.

“For [O’Connor] specifically, it was a matter of just getting herself closer to goal,” Wiley said. O’Connor’s ability to get behind defense lies mainly in her speed. In May, she ran a 60.73 second 400-meter dash - a time worthy of many Division I track teams.

On the defensive side of the ball, Wiley seemed pleased with how the team played in both games.

“We’re a little bit young in the back, but I think we’ve got the [high] quality of players,” Wiley said. “Having [goalie] senior [Julie Sanger], who’s having a great year, aids in the success that we have … The low number of goals against [us] is not a surprise.”

Sanger certainly is an asset to the Knights. She has allowed only five goals in nine games this season and ranks second in SUNYAC in save percentage.

Now that SUNYAC play has started, the games are becoming more important and the Knights have four of their next five games held at home after not having played a game in Geneseo since Sept. 14.

“I think we’ll be that much more excited to play at home,” Wiley said. Although he complimented the fans for traveling well, he said there is something different about playing at home.

“There will be a little bit extra motivation and some extra pride in playing at home and playing in front of a home crowd,” he said.

On Friday Oct. 4, the Knights will face first-place SUNY Oneonta and on Saturday Oct. 5 they will take on SUNY New Paltz – two important games that could knock Geneseo out of SUNYAC contention.

Defense great women's soccer, offense still struggles

On Saturday Sept. 21, the women’s soccer team found itself a second-straight draw, tying the St. Lawrence University Saints 0-0. There are mixed signals coming from this result, a theme that seems to surround the team this season. Goalkeeper senior Julia Sanger had five saves to keep the Knights alive. The conference recognized her efforts, naming her the SUNYAC women’s soccer defensive player of the week on Monday Sept. 23.

Sanger has not allowed a goal in nearly six hours of playing time. Head coach Nate Wiley said it’s her leadership that really sets her apart from other players. He added that her saves in one-on-one situations have been boosting the team.

But of course, it takes more than one player to keep a streak like that alive.

“Defending is key to our success,” Wiley said. He added that Geneseo’s four starting defenders have been playing beyond their years, and there will always be a “learning curve” when playing with two freshmen, a sophomore and a junior.

While the defense seems to have things figured out, the offense continues to struggle. In the last seven games, the Knights have scored eight goals. Not a bad ratio until you learn that seven of those goals came in one game. This inconsistency is what the team struggles with.

“That’s something we’ve been working quite a bit on,” Wiley added. He pointed out that the team has made plenty of opportunities but just hasn’t finished.

One player who has had more opportunities than most is forward and midfielder freshman Erin O’Connor.

The Remsen, N.Y., native has “great pace,” Wiley said.

“When she puts together her eye for through balls and her ability to recognize gaps, she will be able to put away more shots,” he said.

In many situations, numbers can only say so much but they seem to be telling the whole story for Geneseo here. They need to get on the good side of the statistics sheet and things will likely turn around then.

The Knights begin SUNYAC play Friday Sept. 27 at Buffalo State College, so time is running out for them to work on what has been troubling them.

Going into the weekend, the Knights have the sixth-best record in the conference.

Women's soccer 1-1 after opening weekend

The Geneseo women’s soccer team owns a 1-1 record following a 1-0 loss to Farmingdale State College in the season opener and a 1-0 win against Western Connecticut University. The Knights opened their 2013 campaign on Friday Aug. 30, taking on the host squad Farmingdale State. Geneseo outshot Farmingdale 12-10, but sophomore goalkeeper Breanna Blair stopped all five of the Knights’ shots on target.

“One of the things that we need to work on is finishing,” head coach Nate Wiley said. “We did a tremendous job of creating some good opportunities. Even though for much of the second half we had the better of play, one missed clearance in the backfield led to a goal.”

The Rams converted an opportunity at the 74 minutes, 55  seconds mark, accounting for the game’s only scoring play.

The Knights have an interesting team makeup with nine seniors and 16 new players – 15 freshmen and one transfer student.

“We needed to find a way to get them experience early on,” Wiley said. “Against Farmingdale, I think we did a good job of getting quite a few of the new players onto the field.”

Though that game was a loss for Geneseo, Wiley said he remains optimistic about what he saw and what is to come.

“I thought that was something that really did come through. Not only between the first and secnd half against Farmingdale, but we made some really good adjustments prior to the game with Western Connecticut,” Wiley said.

The action continued on Saturday Aug. 31 when Geneseo notched its first win of the season, defeating the Western Connecticut Colonials, 1-0. The Knights dominated the day, outshooting their opponents 15-4.

With the final minutes ticking away, it looked as though Geneseo might settle for a draw, but sophomore Stephanie Clookey came through as she found the back of the net in the 88th minute.

“We had a lot of good opportunities on Saturday as well, and we finally put one away,” Wiley said. “We worry that the game might end up 0-0, and that was a game that we deserved to win, so it’s nice to actually get a win in that situation.”

Senior goalkeeper Julia Sanger needed to make only one save, and she had her defense to thank for that.

Wiley said that defense was one of the main focuses of the team this year. He added that Sanger would be a large part of that defense not only in terms of play, but also in terms of leadership.

The win over Western Connecticut shows an improvement for the Knights, as the Colonials handed them a 2-0 loss in the second round of last year’s Rams Classic.

“It was a good confidence booster for us,” Wiley said. “To beat them and to dominate the game was a good sign of what’s to come.”

The Knights will look for another victory when they visit Nazareth College on Friday Sept. 6.u