NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - SUNY Geneseo senior forward Kayla DeAngelis scored the eventual game-winning goal and an assist to lead the Knights to a 2-1 victory at New Paltz in its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener, Friday.

"It feels good to start the conference season off with a quality win over the defending champion," said head coach Jess Seren. "We executed our game plan very well and played with a lot of heart and confidence. Even when we got behind early, I still felt like we weren't going to be denied."

The defending SUNYAC Champion Hawks (4-4, 1-1 SUNYAC) opened the scoring in the 25th minute as Dani Ackerman netted an unassisted tally from close range off a scramble in front of the Geneseo goal following a blocked shot. The Knights (4-3, 1-0 SUNYAC) pulled even with less than three minutes left in the half as DeAngelis fed a pass from the right wing into box where sophomore forward Sarah Malinak poked home her fifth goal of the season to even the score heading into intermission.

DeAngelis, who's seven total shots on the game were all on goal, tallied her fifth goal of the year from short range to give Geneseo the lead for good just over five minutes into the second half.

Sophomore goalkeepr Dayna Mercer turned away six shots, while the Knights built a 13-6 advantage in shots en route to the victory.

Geneseo will continue its SUNYAC-opening weekend on Saturday when it travels to Oneonta for a 1:00 p.m. faceoff with the Red Dragons, which defeated Brockport, 2-1, at home this afternoon.