Men’s and women's lacrosse teams secure wins over the weekend

Geneseo’s lacrosse teams have been off to a great start this season as they each look to win a second-consecutive SUNYAC title (Photo courtesy of geneseoknights.com).

The Geneseo men’s and women’s lacrosse teams both won impressively on Saturday, Mar. 3. The men's team defeated Ithaca 11-10, while the women’s team handily beat St. Lawrence University 16-3, with both of which occurring at College Stadium. The Geneseo men's lacrosse team is now 2-1 on the season while the women's squad is undefeated at 3-0.

In the first quarter of the men's game against Ithaca, the Knights were handed an early 2-0 deficit. Fortunately, graduate attacker Brady Sullivan quickly provided two goals to tie the game up. Sophomore attacker Jimmy Atkinson also scored, making it 3-2. After another Ithaca goal, the first period ended tied at three.

The Knights got off to a great start in the second frame with three quick goals in succession. Senior attack Robert Benillo got the Knights scoring off at 13:42 of the second, while junior attack Riley Henselder provided the assist on the Knights' fourth goal of the game. Henseler then scored himself to propel the Knights to a two-goal lead. Benillo added another from Henselder and the period ended with Geneseo leading Ithaca 6-3. 

The third quarter was a different story with Ithaca scoring two goals to cut the deficit to one. The Knights answered back when graduate midfielder William McCumiskey scored at 13:26. Ithaca’s momentum continued to roll on as they scored three more goals to take the lead, 8-7. Riley Henselder recorded his second of the game at 8:59 in the third, but Ithaca scored once more in the third to make it a 9-8 game. Sullivan, however, came up clutch again completing the hat trick after scoring the tying goal with 2:16 left in the third quarter. 

In the fourth period, Ithaca struck first with a goal with 10:10 left in the period. Despite the deficit, the Knights just wouldn’t quit as McCumiskey scored at 7:11 in the fourth to tie the game at 10 goals, apiece. Fittingly, Sullivan continued his dominance and scored his fourth goal of the game at 5:32 to give the Knights an 11-10 lead. Sullivan's goal turned out to be the winner as the Knights' stingy defense held Ithaca scoreless for the rest of the period. 

Geneseo’s women's lacrosse team got off to a flaming start as they scored the first six goals of the game in the opening period against St. Lawrence. Junior attackers Molly Brown and Maddie Brown started the scoring with the first two goals of the game, with sophomore midfielder Alaina Reina adding three goals in the first period, as well. Graduate midfielder Maira Brennan added a goal and the period ended with the Knights up 6-0. 

The second period displayed another spectacular effort from the Knights as they added three more goals. Senior attacker Megan Cook got in on the action with a goal at 12:19 but was quickly followed by St. Lawrence’s first goal of the game. Brennan and Molly Brown each scored again to make it 9-1 in favor of Geneseo, at the end of the second.

The Knights continued to pour it on after halftime as junior defender Mady Bulkley scored at the 10:55 mark in the third. Maddie Brown added the next two Geneseo goals while completing the hat trick in the process. St. Lawrence added another score, but Geneseo immediately responded by ending the third frame strong with goals from Brennan and Maddie Brown as time expired. 

The Knights' defense was dominant in the fourth and held St. Lawrence scoreless for the entire period. Molly Brown scored at 7:14 of the period and Cook scored at 4:49 to cement a 16-3 Knights win. 

Both teams will look to continue their successes with more wins early in the season. The men and women both had impressive postseason runs last year which culminated in coveted SUNYAC championships. They will both look to do the same this year with their first SUNYAC matchups coming on Saturday, Mar. 23.