Brockport women’s winning streak still alive

After a strong four-game road trip to begin the season, the Brockport women’s soccer team looked to keep the good times rolling at home. Playing in their first two games at A. Huntley Parker Jr. Field, the Eagles continued their great play and remain undefeated at 5-0-1.

In what would appropriately be called “tune-up” games, the Eagles won games against Medaille College and SUNY ESF in a convincing fashion.

Wednesday, Sept. 12, the Eagles played their home opener against Medaille College and won the game 4-0.

Junior forward Vanessa Gillette recorded her fourth goal and third assist of the season. She currently ranks first in shots taken, and second in points scored in the SUNYAC.

Coach Joan Schockow had some good things to say about her offense-minded forward.

“Vanessa’s best attribute is that she has this ‘give me the ball, I want to go to goal’ type of attitude,” Schockow said. “You would think that’s a common mindset for a forward, but it really isn’t.”

The Eagles took on SUNY ESF Saturday, Sept. 15 during Homecoming weekend and what a Homecoming it was for Brockport, as it cruised to a 7-0 victory.

Senior midfielder Sarah Lawson scored her third goal of the season, and also chipped in three assists.  
After the game, Lawson talked about how a total team effort is to credit for the Eagles six-game unbeaten streak to begin the season.

“Our defense doesn’t get as much credit because they do not show up in the stats as much,” said Lawson. “With shutouts it all comes down to [the defense], but they are also helping us on offense by distributing the ball. Also, our forwards are finally finishing, in years past we haven’t been able to finish, and that’s helping us score lots of goals.”

While Schockow says that she is happy with where the team stands right now, she knows the real test begins when Brockport opens SUNYAC play in its next game.

“You definitely have to feel good being 5-0-1, but the SUNYAC is so tough, we’re keeping all of that in perspective,” said Schockow.  
Schockow continued to esmphasize how tough the games in the SUNYAC conference can be.  
“Last year we split our first two [SUNYAC] games, and we were actually happy with that,” said Schockow. “If we can win two of them, it really sets us up, but we’re realistic, and we know SUNYAC is going to be tougher than any of these teams we played yet. So it feels good, you get some confidence, but we’re also realistic, and we know we gotta do a lot of work on Monday through Thursday this week.”

Lawson said the team feels like it could be something special this season, but is taking things with a step-by-step approach.

“We are really excited, but we aren’t getting too ahead of ourselves,” said Lawson. “We want to do it game-by-game, and win-by-win as we hopefully keep the undefeated streak going.”

The Eagles will look to keep things going strong when they play SUNYAC at home this weekend, with matchups against Buffalo State and Fredonia.

The Eagles won their only game against Buffalo State last season by a score of 2-1, but fell to Fredonia 1-0 in the regular season and 2-1 in the SUNYAC tournament.

The game against Buffalo State is set for Friday, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m., while the game against Fredonia is set for Saturday at 1 p.m.

Upcoming games:

Sept. 21: Buffalo State

Sept. 22: vs. Fredonia

Sept. 28: at Oneonta

Sept. 29: at New Paltz

Oct. 2: at Canton

Oct. 6: at Geneseo

Oct. 9: vs. Wells

Oct. 12: at Cortland