CURTIS HENRY
Distribution Manager
The Fredonia women’s lacrosse team was able to split its two games last week and notch its first win in SUNYAC play of the year. The team was within minutes of winning both contests.
The week began on Thursday when the Blue Devils played host to Oswego. A hard-fought contest resulted in a bit of frustration with Oswego edging out Fredonia by a goal, 10-9.
Fredonia held a 9-8 advantage with less than 10 minutes to play when Oswego’s Esther Gabriel netted the game-tying goal. A few minutes later Gabriel would find the back of the goal again, and the Blue Devils would not recover.
Junior midfielder Kristie Kleine posted three goals on Thursday bringing her team-leading season total to 36. Freshman midfielder Jade Williams added two goals of her own. The Blue Devils outshot the Lakers 26-19 in the defeat.
“In the Oswego game we went in really confident, having had the extra time to prepare,” said sophomore Audrey Yokopovich in reference to the game being previously postponed due to inclement weather.
Head Coach Amy Simon viewed the Thursday loss to Oswego as a potential turning point in the season — a season in which the Blue Devils are very much in contention for SUNYAC play.
“We were definitely down on Thursday after the loss. We were in a slump,” said Simon. “So we went into Saturday’s game knowing what we had to do. I kept saying, ‘We gotta move on; we gotta move on.’ And we did.”
Moving in a forward direction was clearly on the agenda for Saturday. Friday served as a day off prior to the long trip downstate for the team to play New Paltz.
“I didn’t give them a huge pregame speech before New Paltz or anything like that. I said, ‘we know what we have to do,’ and let them play,” said Simon.
It became apparent immediately that the women would respond to the coach’s words, as they came out of the gate hot. Kleine found her scoring stride within the first minute, and the Blue Devils wouldn’t look back. The end result was a whopping 15-4 scoreline that indicated Fredonia’s first win in SUNYAC play this season.
Saturday’s game saw senior attack Katie Miller score five times. Williams added three goals and two assists, while Yokopovich scored twice and had three assists. The 11-goal victory saw the team end its five game losing skid.
“It’s fun to win, you know?” said Simon. “We had gotten into this slump and we had to break it because the frustration was building. Saturday was a really good win, but we need to focus on the next three games.”
The Blue Devils will play four games over the span of the next 11 days, with their opponents consisting of Geneseo, Oneonta, Buffalo State and Potsdam. Winning out could potentially place the Blue Devils as a two or three seed heading into SUNYACs. However, more than one slip-up could spell the end of Fredonia’s season.
“It’s really important for us to make the playoffs,” said senior defender Juliana Kotas. “[The seniors] have sort of created that expectation, that we need to make the playoffs. It would be pretty disappointing to end our final season missing out on SUNYACs.”
“I think that before the underclassmen didn’t really understand the importance of winning here,” said Yokopovich. “Now they’re starting to get how important it is. Not just to the seniors, to all of us. That’s why we’re here.”