GENESEO, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta men's lacrosse team was defeated in their season finale at Geneseo, 6-12, Saturday afternoon. After trailing 5-0 by the end of the first period, the Red Dragons made it a one-goal game early in the fourth, but the Knights pulled away. Oneonta finished the season 7-7 and 3-4 in the SUNYAC while Geneseo finished as the top seed in the conference with a 7-0 record, finishing 13-4 overall.
Jimmy Atkinson helped the Knights gain their five-goal lead by scoring four times before the end of the first. Junior
Evan Kelly (Niskayuna/Niskayuna) got the Red Dragons on the board at 12:10 in the second off an assist from senior
Jack Dinnegan (Blauvelt/Tappan Zee), but Geneseo got the goal back when Christian Marcello Jr. hit the back of the net at 9:32 for a 6-1 lead entering halftime.
Sophomore
Steve Barikyan (Tappan/Tappan Zee) won the opening faceoff of the second half that led to a goal from junior
Matthew Krieg (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue). After Robert Boneillo scored for the Knights, freshman
Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) pulled Oneonta to within one by scoring four straight goals. O'Neil netted the first off a dish from senior
David Guest (Niskayuna/Niskayuna) then senior
Connor Gallagher (Montrose/Hendrick Hudson) found him during a man-up opportunity for the final goal of the third.
O'Neil found the net on his own to start the fourth before Krieg helped him make it 6-7 with 12:23 to play, however Geneseo closed out the game with five unanswered goals. Marcello Jr. was involved in three of the goals for the Knights.
O'Neil finished with four goals while Krieg had a goal and an assist. Junior
Harrison Boukas (North Massapequa/Plainegde) finished with nine saves for Oneonta. Senior
Armando Guerrero (Bellmore/Wellington C. Mepham) and junior
Jesse AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton Beach/Westhampton Beach) each picked up three ground balls, AlfanoStJohn also caused a turnover. Barikyan won nine faceoffs and grabbed two ground balls.
Mark Pav ended with 14 saves for Geneseo and Atkinson finished with five goals and an assist.
The Knights outshot the Red Dragons 44-35 and had a 32-16 ground ball advantage.
