Women’s Soccer ends with an impressive season

Photo courtesy of Geneseoknights.com

Geneseo Women’s Soccer battled hard in the NCAA Tournament against MIT, leaving it all on the field in a tough loss, concluding a standout 13-5-3 season.

This Saturday, Nov. 16,  Geneseo Women’s Soccer traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Tournament. Unfortunately, the Knights lost against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a final score of 3-1. Although they lost, Geneseo put up an impressive and entertaining fight against the Engineers. 

Within the game’s first nine minutes, MIT scored off an assist, the day's first goal but, sadly, not the last. One minute later, junior forward Abby Foster found the back of the net. Foster’s goal was impressive, as she took it from a tight angle just outside the box with no assist, marking her tenth goal of the season.

Geneseo had an impressive cross from the backfield for a top-shelf shot from the top of the box soon after MIT had their first goal, followed by Geneseo’s first and only point of the day. 

The Knights’ defense was working overtime. They blocked 17 shots from hitting the back of the net and kept the ball away from the crease as best they could. With MIT’s relentless offense, they did quite well, considering that the first shot was the only one scored by MIT during the first half. 

Thankfully, Geneseo’s sophomore goalkeeper, Emily McLouth, came out of the cage like a bullet to protect her net and deny MIT from scoring again. McLouth had quick punts to the end of the field and away from her cage to help the offense raise the score. With six MIT substitutions to finish the first half, the Knights ended this half protecting their goal. 

Once again, MIT came out full steam. Within three minutes of the second half, they scored their second goal, followed by another successful goal just one minute later. MIT was done scoring, as Geneseo toughened up their defense and put the pressure on denying the ball from hitting the back of the cage. 

With many fouls and missed shots from MIT, the game was static at some points, giving Geneseo time to reset and focus on quick passes and fast runs. The Knights' last line of defense read the Engineers' offense incredibly well and anticipated most of their moves to keep the ball away from the goalie. 

Geneseo kept its strong players on the field with few substitutions, hoping this would secure the win, whereas MIT switched its players out one after another. This allowed them to get fresh legs and rested minds on the field to compete against a team as powerful as Geneseo.

On the defensive side, sophomore defender Isabella Lavrynenko trapped MIT’s offensive players from every angle. Lavrynenko worked at getting the ball away from the goal and immediately killing any threats on it. With clean and successful tackles from Geneseo’s midfielders, like graduate student Lindsey Clar, the Knights were able to keep the Engineers at bay until the close of the game.

With a tough game and a tough loss, the Knights end their impressive 13-5-3 season with a bright future to look forward to. Great job, team; I can’t wait to see what you do next season!