By: Chamberlain Bauder
BROCKPORT, N.Y.--- The Brockport Golden Eagles women's lacrosse team fell to SUNY Geneseo 10-4 in a hard fought defensive battle. The scoreline did not represent the on field product, both teams put on a strong defensive performance however it was the patience of Geneseo's offense that persisted. Cassidy Burnash led the Golden Eagles offense with a three point performance. She scored goal number 35 in her 12th game this season. It took her 17 games to reach that margin each of the last two years. Alayna Foos ended a 21 game goal scoring streak. the last time she wasn't on the scorers sheet was March 18 2022 against St. Lawrence University.
Erin Lant had a break out game in goal. She posted three plays that could potentially rank one, two and three in her career. All in the last ten minutes to close out the game. The first was a near gimme goal for the Knights. With a shooter on the crease and an empty net in front in transition, Lant swooped in from post-to-post to make the save. On the following Geneseo possession, Megan Cook drove in on the crease from x. Once Cook revealed her stick Lant stuffed it before she could even complete her shot. The third was a play only top IQ net minders make. She turned her back to the attacker on the doorstep and stepped out of her crease to intercept the near assist from Molly Brown.
The first quarter started with a 3-0 run by Geneseo, controlling the first ten minutes of the game. in the closing four minutes of the quarter Brockport's offense finally got a clean offensive possession and warmed up enough for Cassidy Burnash to get to the eight meter line. She scored her free position shot in Burnash fashion, weaving through defenders onto the crease for a one-on-one shot with the goalie. The Knights responded a minute later as Freshman Alaina Reina scored her second of three goals on the day. Burnash closed out the quarter's scoring. She cut inside and found a pass from Alayna Foos to score her second on the day.
Brockport started off the second. Burnash found Quinlan for a goal on the crease, a move they've pulled off countless times this season. That was quickly answered by the Knights, scoring a free position shot on the following possession. The teams went back and forth for ten minutes after that with no score. Neither defense gave an inch. Each team making perfect slides to the last attacker in a zone defense. Eventually, with one minute left in the quarter, Geneseo found the back of the net as Reina completed a first half hat trick.
Each defense picked up where they left off as the second half began. Brockport scored the first goal of the quarter just over seven minutes in. Courtney Cunningham received a pass at the top of the key. She Rolled onto her left side around a defender and weaved through two more knights to get to the crease. Finally she sent in a bouncer between the legs of Maggie Rosaschi, it came up in the top right corner.
Geneseo made it 4-0 over the next 15 minutes of play, into the fourth quarter. Brockport could not find a way through the Knight's defense. However Brockport's defense was able to shut down Geneseo in the closing seven minutes of the game. They were led by the heroics of Erin Lant.
Brockport fall to 4-3 in the SUNYAC while Geneseo stay undefeated and go to 7-0. The Golden Eagles will host SUNY New Paltz this Saturday, first draw at 3pm. the game will decide who takes firm possession of fourth place in the SUNYAC. A seed that means a home playoff game on April 29.
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