Geneseo books ticket to Empire 8 Championship game
- Aiden Locke
- May 1
- 3 min read
By: Aiden Locke / Operations Manager
GENESEO, N.Y. --- The No. 3 Brockport Golden Eagles women's lacrosse team came up short in the Empire 8 semifinal. No. 2 Geneseo kept the Golden Eagles just far enough away to close it out in the second half and escape with a 13-9 victory. The Knights advance to face St. John Fisher in the Empire 8 Championship on Saturday.
Turnovers were a big story of the game, with Brockport committing 23 turnovers to just 14 for Geneseo. The Knights were able to cause nine of them while The Golden Eagles only caused four.
"We saw a lot of what we saw at the beginning of the season," Brockport captain Alayna Foos said. "We were able to come back from it, but it was a little too late.
The game was defined by alternating runs of scoring. Late in the third quarter, Brockport pulled within one after a goal from Foos. Her 51st goal of the season put Brockport in reach of a second half lead. Foos ends her Brockport career with 176 goals and 232 points which finish third and seventh all time in program history.
"I just wish we went further, just wanted to make it all the way," Foos said. "It was a tough start (to the season) and we pulled it out better than I thought we honestly could and felt great. So, there's small wins even though we didn't get the big one that we wanted."
Geneseo responded with a three-nothing run to rebuild a four-goal lead to end the third and start the fourth.
Geneseo set an early tone opening the game with a 3-0 run. The run was fueled by three different goal scorers and dominance of possession. Brockport bounced back with its own three-goal run, all of which were scored by sophomore attacker Hailey Lewkovich. Lewkovich finished the game with four goals for an impressive 39 goals in her sophomore season.
"You're playing a game so obviously things are going to get emotional, but we try to keep everything steady, no highs and lows, we try and keep it consistent," Lewkovich said.
Geneseo generated a four-goal run to gain distance on Brockport in the second quarter. Four different goal scorers found the back of the net. Junior midfielder Alaina Reina picked up two points (1+1) during the run. Reina finished with a hack trick and an assist.
The game was extremely physical and showed the playoff intensity of the Empire 8. Brockport and Geneseo combined for 33 minutes of penalty time, with green and yellow cards flying throughout the game. Geneseo scored twice on the power play with Brockport cashing in once.
"A lot of it is just playing smart between the 30s," Lewkovich said. "Penalties have been something we've been trying to clean up and it's something we try and capitalize on offensively."
Brockport put together a strong effort, learning from a tough 16-9 defeat to Geneseo in the regular season, where the Knights outscored Brockport 7-1 in the second half. Geneseo weathered the storm and kept Brockport far enough at bay to book a ticket to the conference championship game.
Brockport's season was full of highlights and bright spots. First year attacker Karaline McCarthy impressed with 35 goals and 35 assists in her first season of college lacrosse action. Senior midfielders Sarah Kilburn and Paige Thowe also put together strong finishes to their careers tallying 33 and 16 goals respectively.
Sophomore goaltender Arianna Reed also put together a strong campaign in her second season in cage for Brockport with 147 saves.
The Golden Eagles head into the offseason following a fifth consecutive year of conference tournament semifinal eliminations, three of which coming under the helm of head coach Bryana Glasser. The program is building momentum and will be primed for a big 2026 campaign.
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