By Shannon Blankenship 

The fourth seeded SUNY Brockport faced off against fifth seeded SUNY Geneseo at home in the first round of the SUNYAC playoffs on Saturday, Oct. 29. Finishing regulation with a score of 2-2, the Golden Eagles prevailed in the penalty shootout winning 5-4.  

Fifth year forward Matthew Stefaniw scored both of Brockport’s regulation goals. Stefaniw scored his first goal of the game about 21 minutes into the first period. In the second period, he scored his second goal as a result of a penalty kick.  

Fighting their way back into the game, the Knights scored their two goals in a similar manner. Geneseo’s Tyler Lewandowski scored his first goal off of a penalty kick and teammate Justin Arilotta tied the game by scoring with five minutes left in the second period.  

The penalty shootout went on for eight rounds. Going back and forth between teams, both Geneseo and Brockport went 5 of 8 in penalty kicks. The tension set in as the goal-by-goal exchange started. Both teams failed to make a goal in the sixth but both scored in the seventh, and Brockport was triumphant as junior Nick Van Wie answered Geneseo’s last missed goal.  

Knocking the knights out of the first round, the Golden Eagles move on with a record of 9-3-5 

The second round of the playoffs will be played at Brockport on Nov. 2.