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.”