GENESEO— The Geneseo women’s soccer team fell 3-2 in double overtime to Fredonia at home on a crisp Friday afternoon.
It was a well played, back in forth game that took two extra 10 minute overtime periods to produce a winner.
“It was nice too see offensive production, we played a good game today.” said coach Nate Wiley after the match. The girls had only recorded one goal in their previous six fixtures.
The Lady Knights took a 1-0 lead into halftime after junior Amanda Gray slotted a beautiful cross from freshman Kelsey Raschke past the Fredonia keeper and into the corner net with 10 minutes left in the period.
Then came some aggressive play from Fredonia in the the second half, creating numerous chances, and more importantly earning corner kicks. Fredonia capitalized on two of those opportunities and took the lead. A third goal off a corner would have been recorded, if not for captain Sephanie Verdino stepping off the back line to clear a shot that went over the keeper’s head and was headed for the back of the net.
Geneseo never lost heart, and fought back furiously, until with under two minutes to go defender Olivia Wellinger chipped a forward pass to the top of the eighteen yard line. The ball was misplayed by a Fredonia defender and Geneseo’s Olivia Panepinto, the team’s only returning all-conference player, took advantage nailing home the equalizer.
After a physical first over time that saw chances go askew from both teams and included a great save by Geneseo’s goalie Julia Sanger, the Lady Knight’s only weak spot showed again. Just two minutes into the second overtime another corner from Fredonia led to a shot that was tipped by Sanger but just crossed the goal line before a second clearance attempt.
It was a difficult loss for the Lady Knights, but they have an opportunity to rebound quickly as they host Buffalo State at 1:00 on Saturday. Building off their newly found offensive production the girls hope to eliminate the defensive errors and earn their first win in a conference game.