PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher women's soccer team suffered its first Empire 8 Conference loss of the season on Saturday afternoon at Growney Stadium, falling 2-1 to SUNY Geneseo in its regular-season finale.
The Cardinals (14-2 overall, 10-1 Empire 8) had won 11 straight games since losing to Allegheny College on Sept. 12. Additionally, they entered Saturday's contest against the Knights (9-4-3, 7-2-2) having won 17 consecutive games against conference opponents (including regular-season and postseason matches).
St. John Fisher honored Sofia Pantoja, Logan Amidon, Francesca Logrippo, Mattie Heim and Carli Maltbie during a Senior Day ceremony before the contest.
How It Happened
Geneseo earned a penalty kick in the 17th minute, and Emily McGee converted to give the Knights a 1-0 lead they carried into halftime.
The Cardinals had two of their best offensive chances of the day in the 75th minute. With Geneseo goalkeeper Natalie Budgar well out of position, juniors Olivia Kalil and Emily Woolingham had their shot attempts blocked. Budgar stopped Kalil's attempt, and the rebound went straight to Woolingham, whose shot was blocked by a pair of Geneseo defenders covering the goal for Budgar.
The Knights doubled their advantage in the 78th minute, when Madelyn Murphy found herself in the right place at the right time. A pass bounced off a St. John Fisher defender in front of the net, and Murphy quickly fired a shot past sophomore goalkeeper Isabella Ayers.
Junior Abby Dorunda nearly got the Cardinals on the board less than a minute later, drilling a shot off the crossbar from about 25 yards away. Fisher finally broke through in the 88th minute, as Woolingham finished a rebound after Budgar turned away Logrippo's penalty kick attempt.
Geneseo did not allow the Cardinals to generate another chance, playing keepaway in the final minutes to secure the victory.
Game Notes
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Woolingham scored her conference-leading 16th goal of the season. Woolingham also paces the E8 with 38 total points.
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Woolingham has scored in each of the Cardinals' last six games. She has eight total tallies in that span.
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Woolingham passed Carli Kovarik (15 goals in 2021) for third on St. John Fisher's single-season goals list.
Up Next
The Cardinals secured the No. 1 seed for the Empire 8 Championship Tournament with their 3-0 victory over Brockport on Wednesday night. They will face No. 8-seeded Elmira in the first round at 6 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 31, at Growney Stadium.
