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.