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Too much Genareo

Southwestern junior powers Trojans past Fredonia

By Christian Storms 5 min read

FREDONIA -- The Southwestern offense looked to rely on its skill at the forward position against rival Fredonia. In the early part of Monday's Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division I boys soccer matchup, the Trojans had some great runs into the box off the wing.

The best one in the first half came about 26 minutes into the contest and junior Wilson Genareo beat his Fredonia defender to get a look at the keeper, but his shot just missed the mark. About 10 minutes, later he created a nearly identical opportunity, but this time he didn't miss as it was the first goal of his hat trick, sparking Southwestern past Fredonia 3-0 at Fredonia State University.

"That's a big win," Southwestern head coach Drew Keppel stated. "It's a win you feel really good about, especially being a league game. We've had our own personal struggles getting out there; I think this is our best game of the season. We worked hard, we moved the ball, we were all over them from the start of the game and I feel like that was just a great team win."

Genareo's goal came shortly after weathering the storm against Fredonia's best opportunities all game. The Hillbillies had been struggling to establish themselves offensively in the first half and halfway through the opening period they nearly opened the scoring.

"With the parity of the league this year it feels like whoever jumps out in front is setting the tone for the rest of the game," Fredonia head coach Mason Redmond said about the contest. "It also makes it a little bit of a snowball effect sometimes where we saw at the beginning of the first half where things get out of hand quickly because one gets knocked in and people start to lose composure."

Fredonia (3-2-1, 2-1-0) struggled to maintain clean possession in the box and had to opt for lobs toward goal, which resulted in the first corner of the contest. The corner saw the same problem with the Hillbillies unable to get a clear look at goal and Southwestern (5-3-0, 2-2-0) cleared the issue.

"We really hammer being first to the ball," Keppel said about his defense. "Whether that's a corner kick, a throw-in or that's just a pass, we want to be first to that ball and I think tonight our back four did a really good job at being first to that ball. Not letting them turn, not letting them play it past, not giving an inch all night and I think that was the biggest part of the game was that defense."

A couple of minutes later Genareo opened the scoring after a successful run down the left wing and firing home the goal. The tally sparked Southwestern and the Trojans came out on fire in the second half.

"First goal is always the biggest," Keppel said. "I always tell them that's the most important and the second most important is the next goal. We really harp on trying to start strong, getting that first goal gets the confidence going, it gets the whole team feeling well, everyone can take a deep breath."

Continual pressure on the Fredonia back line eventually saw Southwestern break through more often and in the 46th minute Genareo outmuscled the defense again for a breakaway and fired home his second goal.

"This is a team in particular that attacks the backline well," Redmond said of Southwestern. "If they catch you sort of adrift for a moment it can get out of hand in a short amount of time."

Near opportunities off of runs by Matthew Persia almost extended the lead, even with Genareo hitting another post in the 47th minute.

Southwestern made the important league contest pretty much a sealed deal in the 50th minute when Oliver Stump cut down the left wing again and found Genareo in the box to bury his hat-trick goal and the 3-0 lead.

"Man that kid is just an athlete," Keppel said of Genareo. "He's just an all-around athlete and an even better person. We didn't have him for a couple games, he had an injury, that's actually only his third game of the season so he's scored in every game this year. That's a kid that works hard, he shows up every day ready to work. He's a captain as a junior and he embodies what it is to be a Southwestern Trojan. Seeing him get not one, but three goals tonight it just feels real good and I couldn't be happier for him."

Southwestern's victory became the first Fredonia loss in the league, showing it is anyone's race in the Division I this season.

"It feels like there is no clear front-runner," Redmond added about the division. "But there is also no team that is out of the mix either, so we were saying we just need to make sure that we're better every single time that we play because there is always going to be a challenge. The better team tonight won, but that's not to say we're going to be in a bad mindset to start the next one."

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