Geneseo Men's Lacrosse Wins Three Straight in SUNYAC

              The Geneseo men’s lacrosse team extended their winning streak to three games, defeating Potsdam on April 21, 11-2. Geneseo is now 3-7 on the season and 3-1 in SUNYAC play. Potsdam defeated Geneseo twice in 2011 by one goal, including in the SUNYAC semifinals.

            “There’s no question we had that in the back of our minds,” head coach Jim Lyons said. “We wanted to turn around and step up and take control of the situation and I was happy with how we played.”

            Geneseo took an early 3-0 lead, as sophomores John Wettack and Greg Harris along with first year Steve Aziz all scored in the first quarter. The Blue Knights then took control in the second quarter, scoring four goals and taking a 7-0 lead into halftime. 

Senior Brendan Kurpis scored his 13th goal of the year before sophomore James Purpura scored three times in the final minutes of the half. One of the goals was while Geneseo was a man-down, an area where they have been remarkable all year. Potsdam was 0-8 on the day and Geneseo has held opponents to 11-52 on the season.

“We were prepared, we knew exactly what they were doing,” Lyons said. “Guys did their role. They didn’t try to do too much. I was really proud of that group overall.”

Potsdam scored the first goal of the second half but Purpura responded with two more goals, each on assists from first year Steve Cregan. Purpura had five goals on the game and Cregan had four assists. Purpura is now tied with Wettack for the team lead with 16 goals. Cregan leads Geneseo with 24 assists and 34 points.

“A lot of James work was off the ball against the zone and Cregan found the little gaps,” Lyons said. “We are getting more confident in finishing, James Purpura especially.”

Wettack and sophomore Yanni Dischley scored to round out the Blue Knights offense. Junior Michael Gruebel made six saves and allowed just two goals in net to earn the win. Junior Frank DiSanti won 13 of 17 face-offs.

“I thought it was a team effort overall,” Lyons added. “Defense was great because we had the ball a lot. Our offense was smart and Frankie did a great job facing-off. When you give up two goals to a team in college lacrosse you have to be really pleased with it.”

Geneseo rounds out the regular season at home against Plattsburgh on April 28.

Geneseo Men's Lacrosse suffer fourth straight one goal loss

The Geneseo men’s lacrosse team continued their string of tough losses, falling to #4 RIT, 11-10, on March 31. The Blue Knights fell to 0-6 on the season. It was their fourth straight one goal loss and fifth on the season.

Geneseo got off to a quick 2-0 barely two minutes into the first quarter. Sophomore James Purpura scored and then assisted on a goal from senior Brendan Kurpis. RIT responded with three straight goals to take the lead before first year Steven Cregan tied the game at three.

The Blue Knights struggled in the second quarter, as RIT scored four goals to take a 7-3 lead into halftime.

“We had a bad second quarter and that’s what good teams can do to you,” head coach Jim Lyons said. “We know we have to be complete. We’ve had plenty of great 60 minutes, they just haven’t come in the same game.”

Purpura scored his second of the game to open the third quarter but the Tigers then pulled off two quick goals to extend the lead to five. Senior Jeff Watson then scored two goals for Geneseo in between two RIT goals so the Blue Knights still trailed by five, 11-6, early in the fourth.

Geneseo was able to get back into the game, in large part to being able to force turnovers on the Tigers clearing attempts. RIT was only 3-9 on clearing attempts in the second half.

“We had been riding the defensive effort by our offensive players,” Lyons added. “Players on the field were working hard and not giving up. Our determination, heart, and will is the strongest as I’ve ever had here.”

Watson then scored his third of the game before assisting junior Tim Hayden for a goal. Watson is now tied for second of the team with nine points on five goals and four assists.

Junior Tim Burgess and sophomore John Wettack then each scored to pull Geneseo within one with a little over six minutes left. Geneseo had possession with over one minute left trying to tie the game. Geneseo kept firing shots that just missed the net. Geneseo was unable to get the tying goal and turned the ball over with a few seconds remaining.

“It was a situation where more was less. More people wanted to help the team win. Guys were stepping up trying to make a play,” Lyons added. Geneseo was also out of timeouts and unable to use one at the end of the game. “My decision to call timeout in the third quarter hurt us. I pin that decision on me.”

Junior Michael Gruebel made ten saves taking the loss in net, including making seven saves in the third quarter to keep Geneseo in the game.

Geneseo opens SUNYAC play on Wednesday, April 11 at #2 Cortland.

“I’m really proud of the effort, we played a great game,” Lyons added. “They’ve improved, recognized weakness, and improved on those things, but we still have things to work on.”

Geneseo Men's Lacrosse lose 3 Straight One-Goal Games

The Geneseo men’s lacrosse team dropped their third straight one goal game, falling to St. John Fisher, 7-6, on March 28. It is the Blue Knights fourth one goal loss of the season as they fall to 0-5 to start the year.

“Winning breeds winning and there’s no question that when you lose your first (five) and (four) are by one goal, you have to worry about your confidence,” head coach Jim Lyons said.

Geneseo got off to a slow start against the Cardinals, trailing 4-0 late in the second quarter. Senior Brendan Kurpis scored a minute before halftime to get Geneseo on the board.

St. John Fisher extended their lead back to four, midway through the third quarter. Geneseo responded from there. Senior Jeff Watson scored a few minutes later to get the Blue Knights back in the game off a pass from first year Steven Cregan.

Junior Frank DiSanti drew a penalty on the subsequent faceoff to give Geneseo the man-up. Sophomore John Wettack scored his sixth of the year as Cregan earned his second assist of the game. He leads the team with 13 assists and 15 points on the season.

“We run a lot of set pieces to get Steven feeding opportunities,” Lyons said. “He’s just taking advantage of the opportunities that have come to him.”

Kurpis scored his second goal of the game in the final seconds of the third to pull Geneseo within one.

“We threw the ball away every chance we could in the first half. Those missed passes were deadly. We have to tighten that up,” Lyons added. “When we didn’t do that and we played smart, we got good shots and we scored.”

Geneseo was unable to get the tying goal in the fourth. St. John Fisher scored early in the quarter to regain their two goal lead before Kurpis notched his third goal of the game to pull Geneseo back within one.

The Cardinals took a 7-5 lead with 20 seconds remaining when junior goalie Michael Gruebel was out of the net defending as Geneseo was relentlessly trying to gain possession. Kurpis then scored his fourth goal with six seconds remaining but Geneseo was unable to tie the game. He leads the team with eight on the year.

“He (Kurpis) extended his shooting range a little bit,” Lyons said. “He’s a great scorer and he realized it today and finally everybody else got him the ball in good position.”

Gruebel made 11 saves, taking the loss in goal.

Geneseo also suffered two one-goal losses over spring break. They fell to Saint Lawrence, 9-8, on March 13 before losing to Clarkson, 8-7, on March 17. Cregan picked up five assists in those games. Wettack also picked up five points, on three goals and two assists.

The Blue Knights finish their non-conference schedule Saturday, March 31, when they host #4 RIT.

The Geneseo Ice Knights finished a season that began with high hopes on February 22, losing to Fredonia, 4-1, in the first round of the SUNYAC playoffs.

Geneseo defeated Morrisville on February 17, 3-2, in their season finale in order to host a playoff game. First year Justin Scharfe, sophomore Carson Schell, and junior Kaz Iwamoto each scored for the Ice Knights. Senior Cory Gershon made 24 saves in goal for the win.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game. Our guys gutted out a nice win,” head coach Chris Schultz said. Schultz added after the game that the team was really looking forward to hosting a SUNYAC playoff game.

Geneseo got off to a slow start in the playoff game against Fredonia, as the Blue Devils outshot Geneseo 12-6 in the period and controlled possession time.

“They came out in the first period not to lose,” Schultz said. “We didn’t even show up in our own rink after getting a break with home ice.”

Fredonia scored on the power play late in the first period to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Gershon made several big saves in the first, which helped keep Geneseo close early on. Gershon finished the game with 26 saves.

“He made some big saves that they could of opened up a big lead on us early on,” Schultz said of Gershon.

Geneseo tied the game in the second period, as senior David Arduin scored on a rebound. Juniors Ryan Bulach and Colin de Jersey assisted on the play. Geneseo was able to create some pressure later in the second, but were unable to take the lead.

Geneseo went on a five minute power play in the closing seconds of the second, but were unable to convert in the third and lost momentum for the remainder of the game.

“All the momentum changed after that five minute period,” Schultz added.

Fredonia blocked countless Geneseo shots, especially on the power play, causing Geneseo to finish 0-4 with a man advantage during the game.

“They did a really good job of staying in the lane and not letting that lane open up,” Schultz said. “We knew coming in to it, especially their penalty kill was going to pack it in and block those shots. I guess we didn’t realize how good they were at doing it.”

Fredonia took the lead with two goals just 20 seconds apart from each other during the middle of the third. Geneseo put on the pressure the rest of the game but were unable to find the back of the net.

Fredonia added an empty net goal in the last minute of the game to seal their victory. They outshot Geneseo 30-21 for the game, and limited Geneseo’s offensive chances throughout the game.

Geneseo ends an injury filled season with a record of 13-12-1.

“It was a tough season for everybody. We were never able to get a flow with a consistent lineup,” Schultz said. “I really feel awful for our seniors because I really thought that by the time they leave we'd have a championship. It’s very disappointing that whether it’s catching the breaks or making the breaks, we didn’t put them in a position to win a championship.”