Cross-country finishes first and second in SUNYACs

On paper, the men’s and women’s cross-country teams had a day anyone would be proud of. The women came in first, earning the crown of SUNYAC champions, while the men were just edged out by SUNY Cortland, earning second place. While he is proud of the women for becoming SUNYAC champions, not walking away with two SUNYAC titles leaves head coach Mike Woods a little bitter.

“I’m [happy] and I’m not,” he said of the races. “Our guys ran their best race of the year … but we came up empty.”

Junior Ryan Moynihan led the Knights with a time of 25 minutes, 8 seconds, good for third place, followed by junior Cohen Miles-Rath eight seconds later with 25:16 at fifth, both earning first-team All-SUNYAC honors.

It’s not as if the men’s team underperformed, either. Nine runners broke 26 minutes, something Woods has never seen his team do, and it was the fastest pack of the year at 37 seconds.

Sophomore Brendan Wortner also earned All-SUNYAC honors on the second-team and junior Sean Fisher and freshman Alex Kramer on the third-team.

The highlight of the day happened on the women’s side, though.

Junior Keira Wood took first overall in a come-from-behind win down the last 200 meters of the race. Not only was it her best time of the year, but Woods described her race as “perfect.”

“My goal was to make the top seven,” Wood said. “I wasn’t expecting to win.”

It may not seem to be the case, but cross-country is a mental game. Without a sound mind, it is difficult to win, and it wasn’t until this race that Wood was able to hone that part.

“I was really calm before the race,” she said. “I wasn’t overthinking it.”

The team doesn’t win, however, without the performance of the other four runners, who all earned All-SUNYAC honors. Without sophomore Jacquie Huben on first-team, junior Joanna Castrogivanni, junior Cassie Goodman and freshman Sara Rosenzweig on second-team and junior Alyssa Knott on third-team, Wood said she woudn’t have earned the first-place finish.

“Running with my teammates [in the race] has been so helpful,” she said. “Looking around and just seeing all blue and gray – it’s just amazing.”

The season is not over, though. The next race is the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships on Nov. 16 at Letchworth State Park, Geneseo’s home course.

Woods says he is hopeful about this race due to the fact that both the men and women won at this course earlier in the year. Knocking on wood, he said, “We’ve got to do it again.”

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.

Geneseo Ice Knights season preview

“It's going to be a journey to remember.” That's what Geneseo Ice Knights captain senior Carson Schell had to say about the upcoming hockey season, a smile flashing across his face as he pondered the final season of his college career. Looking at the roster, arguably the deepest team Geneseo has put together since 2010, there's a lot to smile about.

After finishing last season with the second-ranked offense in the SUNYAC, head coach Chris Schultz had some important bodies to replace up front. Gone are goal scorer Corbin Rosmarin, playmaker Kaz Iwamoto and Ryan Bulach, all who graduated in spring 2013.

Schultz, SUNYAC Coach of the Year two of the last three seasons, had plenty of size returning, but what he needed to add was speed.

Immediate and substantial contributions from first-year players have been typical of recent Geneseo teams, and this year won't be any different. Division I junior transfer Ryan Stanimir, a point-per-game player at the end of his junior career in the British Columbia Hockey League, will join the Ice Knights after two seasons at Sacred Heart University.

Incoming freshmen Connor Anthoine, who put up 119 points in four seasons in the Eastern Junior Hockey League, and Jack Ceglarski, coming off a 67-point campaign in 44 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, look to see time this year.

While competition will be fierce on offense, the Ice Knights defense is wide open. In the spring the Knights lost Colin de Jersey and Blake O'Connor, each of whom played upwards of 25 minutes a night, and Brandon Angotti, who developed into one of the Ice Knights' best shut-down defenders by the end of last season.

With only junior Jack Caradonna, sophomore Nate Brown and sophomore Matt Hutchinson remaining, the team is guaranteed to see new faces at the blue line on opening night.

Shutdown defenseman first-year Derek Stahl should step in immediately to fill the lockdown roles left behind by O'Connor and Angotti. Stahl was named Defensive Player of the Year in the EJHL last season.

Sophomore Matt Solomon, who transferred to Geneseo along with Stanimir from Sacred Heart, brings a 210-pound frame and a heavy shot to the Geneseo blue line, posting 67 points in 77 games in the EJHL before attending Sacred Heart.

Geneseo's success will hinge primarily on the continued success of goalkeeper junior Bryan Haude, who recorded three shutouts last season as a sophomore to snap a seven-year shutout drought in Geneseo.

Last season's playoff run stemmed from the breakout seasons of several key players.  Senior Jonathan Sucese had a coming out party in 2013, pivoting a line with sophomores David Ripple and Ryan Donnelly as one of the team's most consistent players. If kept together to start the season, it's a line that could be one of the conference's best.

Senior Garry Childerhose and sophomore AJ Sgaraglio got their first real opportunities toward the end of last season after recovering from injuries. Childerhose showed the goal-scoring touch he was recruited for and became a regular, while Sgaraglio became a spark plug on the fourth line, who could see a promotion as the season progresses.

With special teams like last season, the Ice Knights are well positioned going into this season - if they stay healthy. Injuries limited key contributors last season, including juniors Tyler Brickler, Zach Martin and Justin Scharfe - all players Geneseo will need big years from. Without them, a disproportionate load of the offense automatically falls to big guns like senior Zachary Vit. In a conference teeming with quality goaltenders, that's not a recipe for success. The Knights can't afford the injury plague that has devastated them for the last two seasons.

If injuries can be avoided, this is a team ready to win now. SUNY Oswego will be strong, as always, but the Lakers graduated three of the best players in the college's history and five of the conference's top ten scorers. Oswego will retool, but the team is in transition by its standards.  SUNY Plattsburgh will be a very similar team, a team that the Knights could skate with last year. This Knights team, on paper, is better.

The time to win is now for Geneseo.

“We know what we have, and we know what we have to do to succeed,” Schell said.

The talent is here, and with an outdoor game scheduled for Dec. 15 at Frontier Field, the spotlight is here too. The campaign for Geneseo's fourth SUNYAC title begins against Morrisville State College, and it begins at 7 p.m. Friday Nov. 1 in the Ira S. Wilson Arena.

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.

Men's soccer closes season with losses

The Geneseo men’s soccer team went into the weekend of Oct. 25 and 26 with optimism for a playoff spot. The Knights needed to win one game to clinch the sixth seed of the SUNYAC conference. They lost both games, however, leaving the team winless since Oct. 12.

“All we really needed out of the four conference games was one win out of the four or two ties. We sort of mentally folded,” head coach Dom Oliveri said. “We weren’t the same team these last couple weeks of the season than we were in the first eight to 10 weeks.”

The Knights were one spot ahead of SUNY Potsdam heading into the contest on Oct. 25 but fell against the Bears 1-0. Potsdam scored on a corner kick header in the 53rd minute to seal the deal.

The following day, Geneseo took on SUNY Plattsburgh in a must-win game for the Knights. But two unassisted goals along with a Geneseo own goal left the Knights 0-2 on the weekend. The shutout game was the fifth scoreless game for the Knights in the season.

Already anticipating next season, Oliveri says he is looking forward to the improvements that will be made.

“In terms of team chemistry, we could have been a little stronger,” he said. “That’s something I want to improve on starting this spring.”

Also, as a result of the Knights’ final weeks, Oliveri said the team’s “mental attitude toward games have to be improved.”

The Knights will lose key components to the team next season, and Oliveri said that he hopes for current players to step up in their place, especially with the departure of senior captains Pat Lynch and Ryan Yurchak.

“[Lynch and Yurchak] were our emotional leaders out there. So we’re going to miss those two guys a lot,” Oliveri added.

In regards to offense, Oliveri said a few players could take over the void Yurchak will leave, albeit with some improvement.

“Upfront, we struggled at times this year. I played three, four, five different guys up there, and they never seemed to click,” Oliveri said. “[Sophomore Stanley Egbuchulam] has the potential to be really good for us. Junior Rich Bellusci started off the year really hot and sort of cooled down at the end, so we’ll see.”

Next season, Oliveri said he hopes to finish in the top six, something the Knights have never done under his tenure.

“It doesn’t feel good to not finish in the final six in the conference,” Oliveri said. “We just need to take each game one game at a time next season.”

Editor’s note:

The men’s soccer season ended Wednesday Oct. 30 in a 2-1 loss to St. John Fisher College. The Knights finished 6-10-3, 3-5-1 in SUNYACs.

Volleyball goes 1-2 in round-robin tournament

While a postseason is out of sight for the Geneseo volleyball team, the 2013 season proved to be a valuable learning lesson. The Knights began the season as an inexperienced squad with a team nearly full of all first-years. As head coach Jen Salmon noted, the young team was unconfident and a “tense, mentally weak team” at first, but developed into a tougher, stronger, more confident team.

That character showed against conference opponents on Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 in the final weekend of SUNYAC pool play. Entering the weekend 1-5 in SUNYAC, Geneseo faced SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Plattsburgh in a round-robin tournament. All three teams stood ahead of the Knights in conference play.

The Knights went 1-2 in the tournament, beating Oneonta before losing to Fredonia and Plattsburgh, both by a score of 3-1.

Although Geneseo’s 2-7 final conference record bested SUNY Brockport’s 0-9, it wasn’t enough to qualify for the SUNYAC tournament. The top six teams at the conclusion of conference play begin playoffs on Nov. 8. top-seeded and undefeated SUNY New Paltz will host the tournament.

“We could have done better,” Salmon said. “But I don’t think anyone is devastated or really upset about how we finished. I do think that, overall, it was a positive finish.”

After a year that was dedicated to learning and transitioning into the restored program, Salmon said she hopes to build off of the new foundation, especially heading into the spring nontraditional offseason.

During the offseason, Salmon plans on providing one-on-one training in addition to sessions for specific positions. The team will return to hone basic skills and break bad habits. In previous years, Salmon said, from one fall to the next, there’s a “drastic difference” in improvement. None of the 15 Knights are graduating, so Geneseo potentially could have a full returning squad in fall 2014.

But first, the team is focusing on the culmination of the season: its final two matches. At this point, it’s about closing the season playing for pride, Salmon said.

The Knights will face two nonconference competitors, Alfred University and St. John Fisher College, on Saturday Nov. 2.

We want to know at the end of these … matches that we’re a much different team than when we started at the beginning of the season,” Salmon said. “We want to be able to see that progress, to see that distinction.”

Editor’s note:

The volleyball team fell to Nazareth College 3-2 on Wednesday Oct. 30. Sophomore Paige Pendleton led the team with 13 kills. 

Field hockey to face New Paltz in playoffs

The Geneseo field hockey team hosted Nazareth College on Saturday Oct. 26 in its last home game of the season. The story from the day comes from the Knights’ defense, as it did not allow the Golden Flyers to take a shot. The defense “applied pressure and really dictated the flow of the game,” head coach Jess Seren said.

The Knights scored early on with a goal by senior Kayla DeAngelis and never looked back. DeAngelis finished the game with two goals along with sophomore Sarah Malinak, who tallied two of her own and was named SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Week for her efforts. With a 6-0 win, the Knights ended their final home game on a high note.

Even though this game was nonconference, the SUNYAC standings were finalized over the weekend. With a 5-1 conference record, Geneseo grabbed second place behind SUNY Cortland, the Knights’ only conference loss.

The Knights have a tough challenge ahead of them as they face SUNY New Paltz in the first round of the SUNYAC tournament on Nov. 8. The Knights beat the Hawks 2-1 in their match earlier this season.

“There is an entirely different mindset involved when it comes to playoffs with much more on the line,” Seren said. “New Paltz won the tournament last year and went to the NCAA tournament. They know what it takes and know how to win but we’ll be ready to go. I think it’s going to be a great match up against two strong teams.”

The past two seasons Geneseo has lost in the first round of the tournament to Cortland. If the Knights win the first game of the tournament they will advance to the championship, where a potential rematch against Cortland could take place.

Before the playoffs begin, Geneseo still has three more away games.

“Each of the three teams we face is a chance for us to better ourselves as a whole,” Seren said. “We want to keep the momentum going into playoffs, so it’s important we don’t overlook any of them and continue to take care of business.”

The Knights will take on the University of Rochester at 1 p.m. Saturday Nov. 2.

Editor’s note:

The field hockey team won 5-2 in a nonleague game against St. John Fisher College on Oct 30. Senior Kayla DeAngelis set the single-season point record with her goal on the day.

Nationally-ranked men's and women's cross-country take second at Oberlin

If there is ever a time in the cross-country season to be gearing for the playoffs, a race with over 30 Division III teams would be that time. In the Inter-Regional Rumble, hosted by Oberlin College, the Geneseo men’s and women’s cross-country team’s stepped up against and placed second against the tough field. The 34-team field represented different regions across the country and included numerous nationally ranked teams.

On the men’s side, the Knights, then ranked 19th in the nation, beat out No. 20 Allegheny College and No. 31 University of Rochester but lost to sixth-ranked New York University.

Sophomore Brendan Wortner finished first for Geneseo with a time of 25 minutes, 37.5 seconds, barely edging out co-captain junior Cohen Miles-Rath by a tenth of a second.

This was a performance by Wortner that head coach Mike Woods was excited about.

“He is establishing himself,” Woods said. “He has arrived as a runner.”

Wortner had an “up-and-down” freshman year, as Woods put it, but chalked it up to the differences between high school and college cross-country.

The last three runners among the top five seem to be transitioning into the college ranks smoothly: junior Ryan Moynihan, freshman Alex Kramer and freshman Matt Jorgensen all finished within one minute of each other.

The women fared just as well as the men, but against arguably tougher competition, seeing that every team in the top five was nationally ranked. Geneseo led the field at 10th in the nation but could not beat No. 15 NYU, as two of their runners finished top five overall.

Co-captain junior Cassie Goodman finished first for the Knights, 14th overall, with a time of 22:17.

The highlight of the day came when the fifth runner for Geneseo, senior Mary Aldridge, crossed the finish line with a time of 22:33, just 16 seconds after Goodman. This was the fastest pack Woods has seen.

“It was a historic run for us,” Woods said. “This is 22 years I’ve been coaching, and we’ve never had a pack run under 20 seconds and [finish this well].”

Both teams remained nationally ranked with the men moving up one spot to No. 18 while the women fell one spot to No. 11. Woods, who used to pay little attention to national rankings, said he believes the women should be among the top 10 teams. The women who ran in the open 6K for nonvarsity competitors stacked the top 10, finishing second through sixth and ninth.

The SUNYAC championship race is set for Nov. 2.

Men's soccer faces 'biggest weekend' of season

The postseason became unclear for Geneseo’s men’s soccer team after a 0-1-1 weekend on Friday Oct. 18 and Saturday Oct. 19 against SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego. The week before, however, the Knights sealed a 2-1 win against undefeated and then nationally ranked SUNY Brockport.

Head coach Dominic Oliveri said the win against Brockport boosted the confidence of the team. He hoped that the Knights were able to have that self-assurance as they played Cortland and Oswego.

“My worry was, coming off a victory like that, if we can carry our morale psychologically and mentally into the next weekend,” Oliveri said.

The Knights were unable to “carry” that success against Cortland as they lost 2-0. Despite going scoreless in the game, the Knights outshot the Red Dragons 19-13, with seven on goal for Geneseo and only four for Cortland.

Oliveri said that inconsistency between halves had something to do with the loss.

“In the first half, we came in extremely sluggish, and I was disappointed in our effort,” he said. “Second half, we were in desperation mode, and we played extremely well. We created numerous offensive opportunities.”

The following day, Geneseo tied the winless Oswego team 1-1.

“From a talent standpoint, we were more talented,” Oliveri said. “In the stats, we controlled the game.”

The Knights dominated in front of goal by tallying 28 shots as opposed to six from Oswego. Geneseo’s goalkeeper sophomore Logan Calvey recorded three saves on the day.

The two weekend games mean that the Knights fell to fifth in the SUNYAC standings. The upcoming matches against SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh will have the possibility to decide their fate.

“We’re at a very vulnerable point in the conference standing right now at fifth place. Top six makes the playoffs,” Oliveri said. “Two games on Friday and Saturday, and we can finish anywhere from second to third to completely out. The teams below us inch closer to us due to our performance this past weekend.”

Going into the weekend, Potsdam is in seventh place and Plattsburgh in third.

The Knights’ situation is tricky. If everything goes well and they win both games, they will automatically be in the playoffs.

“It’s the biggest weekend of the year,” Oliveri said. “It will determine if we will make the playoffs or not.”

Last chance to shine for volleyball

Five regular-season matches left, and for the volleyball team, the Knights have nothing to lose. Geneseo went 1-6 in the previous two weeks, snapping a five-game losing streak with their single win over Medaille College on Saturday Oct. 19. Three losses counted toward their 1-5 conference record – pushing the Knights to ninth place in the SUNYAC standings, ahead of SUNY Brockport.

Geneseo didn’t have one singular recurring problem over the seven games; some opponents just overpowered the Knights. For instance, Clarkson Unicersity, was “by far, levels above any team we’ve seen this season,” head coach Jen Salmon said. And against SUNY Oswego, Geneseo couldn’t fight off the Lakers’ discipline and blocking skills.

But consistent inconsistency, as Salmon said, continued to plague the Knights, as it has throughout the season. She hopes that this year of experience will help their court skills as well as their confidence.

Facing Clarkson on Oct. 18 also provided an opportunity for the Knights to see “where Division III volleyball can be,” Salmon said. “I think it kind of motivated them.”

Geneseo bounced back after the loss to Clarkson and defeated Medaille. Not only did the Knights sweep Medaille 3-0, but Salmon also thought the victory “brought that life back to the team,” after the string of losses.

Sophomore Paige Pendleton stood out among the Knights, offensively and defensively, with eight kills, five block assists and five solo blocks. Freshman Tricia Baxley and sophomore Lizzy Morton added nine and six kills, respectively.

Geneseo closes out conference play when the Knights host SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Plattsburgh on Friday Oct. 25 and Saturday Oct. 26. Both Fredonia and Plattsburgh stand at 4-2 – tied for third place within SUNYAC.

With conference leader SUNY New Paltz undefeated at 6-0, the Knights seem far from a SUNYAC championship or even the bid to the tournament. Salmon, though, remains optimistic about the postseason.

“This is where we can really show who we are and how talented we are,” she said.

The team could squeeze into the playoffs if they go 3-0 – something that is possible, according to Salmon.

And as she pointed out, it’s almost beneficial to be in this position instead: potentially receiving a spot in postseason play with a very successful weekend rather than having to defend their standing within tight conference standings.

“We don’t have anything to lose,” Salmon said. “We can just play.”

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.

Chen earns third coach-of-the-year title and fifth SUNYAC title for tennis

With a decisive 5-1 victory over SUNY New Paltz on Oct. 13, the women’s tennis team claimed its fifth SUNYAC title in six years. The Knights, who finish the fall season at 11-1, also booked a trip to the NCAA tournament with their triumph in the tournament, which also included 5-0 wins over SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Oneonta.

Despite the margin of victory, Geneseo did not enter the tournament lacking adversity. An ankle injury to junior Dexuan Yuan, who plays second singles and teams with her sister junior Minxuan Yuan at second doubles, forced head coach Jim Chen to shuffle his lineup. Although they were held out of singles competition in the tournament opener against Plattsburgh, Dexuan Yuan and Minxuan Yuan won their second doubles match 8-1 to help Geneseo to a 5-0 victory.

The next day, Geneseo faced off with Oneonta. Again, Geneseo was able to win all three doubles matches. The wins that clinched the match for the Knights came from freshmen Karli Hollins, who won 6-2, 6-0 at fourth singles and Maggie Hale, who won 6-2, 6-2 at fifth singles.

The championship match against New Paltz saw some hotly contested doubles matches. While Hollins and Hale cruised 8-1 at third doubles, Dexuan Yuan and Minxuan Yuan fell at second doubles 8-6. With the teams tied 1-1, junior Amanda Rosati and sophomore Marylen Santos gutted out an 8-6 win at first doubles to give Geneseo the advantage.

The depth of the Knights’ team showed next, as the bottom half of the singles roster posted victories to defend Geneseo’s crown. Hollins won 6-2, 6-3 at fourth singles, Hale triumphed 6-2, 6-4 at fifth singles and Minxuan Yuan took a 6-0, 6-0 victory at sixth singles.

After the tournament, Chen quickly turned the attention on his players.

“The team peaked at the right time,” he said. “I can’t sing the praises of the team loud enough. When the chips [are] down, these players have a lot of fight in them.”

Even though his players were the ones on the court, Chen deserves recognition as well, as he was given SUNYAC Coach of the Year honors for the third straight year. With more than 120 wins over 12 years at the helm of the program, Chen has cemented his status as one of the top coaches in the league, if not the region.

In the spring, Chen will lead the team he regards as “pretty special” against bigger, tougher opponents in preparation for the NCAA tournament.

“I look at these next several months as a charm; I revel in this kind of stuff,” Chen said. “We know that we are relatively good, [and] we know that we can get better.”

While he acknowledged that it will not happen this year, Geneseo is moving ever closer to being able to accomplish what Chen said is his loftiest dream for the team: “Ultimately, we want to be national champions.”

Field hockey team unable to take down rival SUNY Cortland

A field hockey game is 70 minutes long and on Oct. 19, the Geneseo field hockey team learned that the worst minute is when there is no time remaining on the clock. The Knights faced SUNY Cortland in a potentially crucial match regarding future SUNYAC playoff games. It was a clash between the undefeated conference teams.

Hosting the SUNYAC tournament was on the line for Geneseo, which is significant, as home field advantage can sometimes be a deciding factor in games.

The Red Dragons scored first, 13 minutes into the game on a deflected shot off Geneseo goalie sophomore Dayna Mercer. The Knights went into the half scoreless but came back strong as midfielder freshman Liz Doherty scored the equalizing goal in the 40th minute.

The tie was short-lived though, with Cortland responding two minutes later to regain the lead.

A corner in the 51st minute proved beneficial for the Knights, as senior Kerry Hosford scored after multiple shot attempts. The game remained tied for the rest of play.

Time was expired, but the match was not over. In field hockey, if the time ends while a team is taking a corner, it is not officially over until the corner is ruled officially dead by either the defensive team hitting it out of the crease or the shooting team hitting it out of bounds, or scoring. The former two of the three options would have sent the game into overtime. The Knights, however, did not get the chance to win in extra time.

The Red Dragons were awarded a corner in the final minute, and as time expired, play continued and a shot found its way through the tight defense hitting the back of the net. Cortland came away with a 3-2 victory.

Despite the loss, Geneseo’s season is not over, and there is still the potential for the Knights to host SUNYACs depending on the outcome of upcoming games.

“We proved, once again, that we can run and compete with one of the best teams in the country. We came back twice in the game being down 1-0 and again 2-1, which is a testament to this team’s fight,” head coach Jess Seren said. “We had them on their heels in the second half and controlled the play.

“Sometimes it’s not always about the outcome. We’re doing great things every time we take the field and have confidence in our abilities,” Seren added. “Games like that are only going to make us stronger – physically and mentally.”

Editor’s note:

The field hockey team beat SUNY Brockport 4-0 on Wednesday Oct. 23. Senior Kayla DeAngelis scored two goals for the Knights. Geneseo is first in the conference with a record of 5-1.

Indoors or on sand, volleyball sophomore Holdredge is a winner

Despite similarities in rules, strategy and execution, it’s easy to see why sophomore Sam Holdredge prefers beach volleyball to its indoor counterpart: bare feet, warm sand and a bright sun above. Yet the defensive specialist turned down scholarships at Division I beach volleyball programs in Florida at Stetson University, Florida Gulf Coast University and Webber International University. She also declined a scholarship to Irvine Valley College (Calif.) that participates in the independent Intercollegiate Sand Volleyball Conference.

She ultimately decided to attend Geneseo to stay nearby her Brighton, N.Y. hometown – one of the toughest decisions Holdredge ever made.

“It is very, very fun for me, but at the same time, I take it pretty seriously,” she said. Holdredge plays nearly every day from late May to mid-August while also competing in tournaments each weekend with her partner Amanda Sedore, a junior at Niagara University.

With Geneseo’s spring season and fall preseason surrounding the outdoor season, Holdredge faces a “pretty difficult” transition, she said.

“I guess the indoor game is a lot faster than the beach game that you wouldn’t really think,” she said.

Holdredge and Sedore compete through Hotshots Indoor Beach Volleyball Club in Rochester and New York Outdoor Volleyball Association, which sets up tournaments and provides advanced-level winners with cash prices.

Over last summer alone, Holdredge won seven tournaments, but she couldn’t pocket the $1,000 or so because of NCAA regulations on participating in intercollegiate athletes.

Still, Holdredge’s success has provided her with opportunities across the country. In 2009, she competed in the USA Volleyball Junior Beach Tour in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the farthest she’s traveled for the sport. She earned a spot on the High Performance (A2) team in 2012 through the USA Volleyball Beach Junior National Team Program that brings together 30 of the world’s best beach volleyball players to train with professionals in California. But Holdredge never made it to the West Coast, as the program conflicted with Geneseo preseason.

Unlike her time on the Geneseo team, Holdredge is on her own without a coach – a trend that’s pretty common among beach volleyball players. But within the beach volleyball community, she isn’t alone. The tight-knit community is one reason why Holdredge took on a referee job at Hotshots a couple years ago. And it’s why, six years later, she has stuck with the sport.

Editor’s Note:

The Knights resume to SUNYAC action on Friday Oct. 11 against host SUNY Potsdam, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday Oct. 12 against SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego.

Tennis competes for first time in regional tournament

In the short span of less than a decade, the Geneseo tennis team has gone from mere afterthought to formidable competitor on the regional stage. This progress showed on the weekend of Sept. 28, as the Knights competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northeast Regional Championships at William Smith College. Head coach Jim Chen said that Geneseo has not competed at the tournament recently due to a lack of competitiveness on the Knights’ part.

“Five, six, seven years ago, we would never win a match at this tournament,” Chen said in a phone interview.

In the doubles portion of the tournament, the normal third doubles team of freshmen Karli Hollins and Maggie Hale beat a team from Bard College 8-4 in the first round. Their next opponents, from Skidmore College, defeated Hollins and Hale 8-0, although Chen noted that this was Skidmore’s first doubles team.

The other Geneseo doubles pairing juniors Amanda Rosati and Minxuan Yuan lost their first match but recovered to win against Nazareth College’s first doubles team before losing in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket. The win was especially noteworthy considering that the pair does not usually play together; Rosati’s usual partner is sophomore Marylen Santos, while Minxuan Yuan is her twin sister Dexuan Yuan.

In singles play, the Knights entered Dexuan Yuan, Rosati and Santos into a very strong 64-player field. Dexuan Yuan, fighting an ankle injury, lost in the first round 7-5, 6-1. Rosati won her first-round match by the same margin and earned the right to play the tournament’s top-seeded player Cristina Nunez of Ithaca College. While Rosati eventually fell 6-1, 6-3, the match was closer than the score indicated, according to Chen. He said that he believes that in a standard team-based match, Rosati would have a shot at beating Nunez.

Geneseo’s most successful player was Santos, who defeated opponents from St. Lawrence University, Elmira College and the College of New Jersey in order to make the quarterfinals, in which she lost to a player from Brooklyn College 6-1, 6-0.

Despite the score, Chen said, Santos’ last match was entertaining, well played and attracted quite the crowd. Coming off of a three-set victory against the College of New Jersey player, Santos “ran out of steam” but still left everything on the court and was able to contest each point.

Overall, Chen and his team came away from the tournament with both confidence and knowledge of areas that need improvement.

“It’s always a measure of where you are in a season when you can go to a tournament like that and play well,” Chen said. “We can hang with the best … I hope the players realize that they did something significant.”

He also said that the doubles teams still need improvement in order to complete the rest of the fall season without any blemishes. Geneseo has two regular season matches left before the SUNYAC tournament. Winning this tournament will automatically qualify the Knights for the NCAA tournament in the spring.

Field hockey starts SUNYAC 3-0

The start of SUNYAC conference games can be a make-or-break time for teams, but for the Geneseo field hockey team, the weekend games helped determine its status as an elite SUNY team. The first game on Sept. 27 against defending SUNYAC champions SUNY New Paltz was a statement match. Led by SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Week senior Kayla DeAngelis, the Knights were able to fight back from an early deficit to defeat the Hawks 2-1.

“This season, our approach is to take one game at a time, and the same holds true for our SUNYAC matches,” head coach Jess Seren said. “The team understands the importance of each game, which is good. It’s important to know what’s on the line and what you’re playing for. It fuels them.”

The Knights faced another difficult challenge when playing SUNY Oneonta the next day, Saturday Sept. 28. Similar to New Paltz, the Red Dragons were a top-SUNYAC team the previous season, going 4-2 in the conference. A first-place standing was on the line for the Knights, who needed to go 2-0 on the weekend.

The match was a back-and-forth struggle until the Knights scored two in a row to pull ahead 6-5. Oneonta was only able to muster one more goal in the match, as sophomore goalkeeper Dayna Mercer withstood multiple scoring opportunities.

“Starting off 2-0 in the conference is huge, especially when it’s two of the top teams in the SUNYAC. It makes a strong statement and sets the tone for the rest of the season,” Seren said. “It doesn’t take the pressure off – it raises the bar but, more importantly, it gives us momentum and confidence going forward, which is only going to help us reach the goals we’ve set out to achieve.”

Without home field advantage, many teams might struggle to find the momentum to bounce back without the support of familiar faces or territory. The Knights proved last weekend that this is not the case for them.

“Being on the road always poses its challenges – even more so with field hockey because of the different surfaces you play on,” Seren said. “Different skill sets and strategies are required for each, so it’s important that we recognize what those are and then make the appropriate adjustments quickly so our focus can be on executing our game plan.”

On Tuesday Oct. 1, Geneseo continued its streak, as the team scored seven goals within the first 20 minutes of play, cruising to a dominant 8-0 victory over Morrisville State College. With the win, the Knights remain undefeated in the SUNYAC.