Rochester, NY - An early first-half goal from Josh Baraka was the decider as the Clarkson University Men's Soccer team gained their first conference win of the year at RIT, 1-0, Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Knights improve to 4-0-1, 1-0 in the Liberty League, having won four straight. The team returns to action Wednesday, travelling to Plattsburgh State for a non-league matchup.
Just two minutes in, Cole Mueller would come ever so close to giving Clarkson the perfect start as his left-footed, inswinging, corner nearly ended up in the goal, rebounding back into play off the crossbar. The Golden Knights wouldn't need to wait much longer, just till the 14th minute, to gain that goal advantage following a long throw-in. The ball ricocheted around the box before a clearance attempt was miss-hit by a Tiger defender sending the ball right to the feet of Baraka at point-blank range. A quick turn from the Rochester native sent the ball past the goalie, into the left side of the net for 1-0.Â
Paul Rolland would come close to notching a second for Clarkson in the 28th minute. A shot from about 25 yards out by the forward had the opposition goalkeeper scrambling to cover his angles but the ball just crept over the crossbar and out of play for a goal kick.Â
As both teams settled into the second half, RIT would have a great chance to level the score up. After gaining possession back in their defensive third, the Tigers sprung on the counterattack with a driving run from Idriss Diallo that led to a three on two break. A great defensive effort from Juan Pestarino to push the attacker wide forced Diallo to settle for a weak left-footed attempt that was collected easily by Carter Kladstrup. The hosts would come close again in the 70th minute as Selorm Dake got on the end of a long pass from midfield on the left side of the penalty box but seemed to miss-time his left-footed shot which rolled past the left post of Kladstup's goal.Â
Minutes later, Noah Partenza held the ball up well on the attack for Clarkson about 20 yards from the RIT goal. The freshman turned to the middle and rolled a pass into the path of Felix Freed, who connected on a low left-footed shot that flew just past the far right post.Â
RIT began to turn up the pressure as the game crept closer to the final whistle but the defense of the Golden Knights held strong, forcing the Tigers to settle for long-range shots ensuring that one goal stood as the decider.Â
The hosts managed to hold a slim margin in shots (9-3) and shots on goal (3-1). Kladstrup stopped three shots in the win, Kristian Bobbek was not credited with a save in net for the Tigers. Baraka connected for two shots with Rolland, Freed, Zach Shufelt and Lars Stephensson all producing one apiece for the Knights.
