Knights Drop 2-1 Decision to Saints

Courtney Donovan moves the ball up field against St. Lawrence - photo by Samantha Kemerer

Potsdam, NY – A scoreless drought ended for the Clarkson University Women’s Soccer team, but unfortunately the Golden Knights needed multiple goals to hold on against St. Lawrence as Clarkson’s nearby rivals rallied for a 2-1 Liberty League victory Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights fell to 4-10 overall and 0-5 in the Liberty League with the defeat, while St. Lawrence kept its conference playoff hopes alive by moving to 9-6 overall and 2-3 in league contests.

The first goal of the game was in ways an historic one for the Golden Knights. Clarkson was able to break a lengthy scoreless streak against the Saints, tallying a goal against St. Lawrence for the first time since a 2-1 overtime loss in 1998. St. Lawrence was attempting to clear the ball out of its defensive end after an offensive spurt from the Knights, but the ball found the foot of Alix Petitti (Amsterdam, NY). The junior back then sent a strong shot from about 25 yards out to the near post over Saints’ keeper Abby van Geldern, giving Clarkson a 1-0 edge at 24:13.

The two teams played evenly for most of the half, and the Saints were able to tie the score at 1-1 late in the period. Right at the top of the Clarkson box, both teams were jockeying for possession, when a Clarkson player was inadvertently pushed to the ground in the scrum, nearly on top of the ball, creating a dangerous play and giving St. Lawrence a scoring chance on the restart. Betsy Lucas tapped a short pass to Elena Rogers, who then ripped a shot over the hands of Stephanie Collins (Colton, NY) from 18 yards out.

Clarkson had a few chances at the start of the second half, but it was St. Lawrence that would gain the upperhand early in the period. Rogers sent a pass down the sideline to Marcelle Justison. Clarkson’s Nicole Mendelson fought for the ball with Justison as she carried it down the sideline, but Justison was able to get an extra half step and chipped a low shot over a diving Collins and the ball squirted in just inside the post.

At the close of the game, the Knights had a few chances, but van Geldern secured a lofting shot in the waning moments to preserve the victory for St. Lawrence.

Collins finished with six saves for the Knights and van Geldern made four stops for the Saints. St. Lawrence had a 14-8 edge in shots (7-4 in each half), and held a 6-0 advantage in corner kick chances.

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