Men's Soccer | 9/29/2016 7:00:00 AM
After another strong defensive performance in the first Liberty League game, the Clarkson University Men's Soccer team will continue the conference schedule by hosting Vassar and Bard this weekend.
Clarkson is 4-2-2 overall to start the season and is 0-0-1 in the Liberty League after a 0-0 tie with RIT last Saturday. Clarkson has given up just three goals in 772 minutes of action. The Golden Knights' goals against average of .38 is tied for the league lead and is seventh in the country and they are also fifth in the country in save percentage. Leading the way is goalkeeper Michael King who is sixth in the country with a save percentage of .932 and is 11th in goals against average with a mark of .350. King leads the conference in both of those categories as well as in saves per game (5.13) and total saves (41).
On offense, Clarkson has tallied just eight goals, a mark that is higher than just RPI and RIT in the Liberty League. Kevin Calnan leads Clarkson in points with seven on two goals and three assists. Calnan is tied for fourth in the conference with .38 assists per game. Although Calnan is the only Golden Knight with multiple goals, six other Clarkson players have scored and four more players have recorded an assist. That number includes six first year players.
Vassar is 6-1-2 this season and is also 0-0-1 in the Liberty League. The Brewers opened the conference slate with a 1-1 tie on the road at Skidmore. The Brewers are second in the conference in offense, scoring 2.444 goals per game. Mattie Mrlik and Tanner Sands have five and four goals respectively while Hayden Van Brewer has five assists, one ahead of Mrlik's four. Van Brewer is 22nd in the country in total assists. Clarkson has an all-time record of 5-7-4 against the Brewers, including 1-1 in Chris Taylor's coaching tenure. Vassar earned a 3-1 win in 2015 while Clarkson won 2-1 in 2014. Eric Herberger scored the game-winning goal in that 2014 victory.
Bard is 4-1-3 this season with its only loss a 2-0 loss to Union in the Raptors' only Liberty League game. Nick Shenberger and Austin Higgins are tied for the team lead with nine points apiece as both have four goals and an assist. The pair's four goals each is tied for second in the Liberty League while their points totals put them in a tie for fourth. Higgins leads the conference in game-winning goals with a pair. Clarkson has an all-time record of 4-1-0 against Bard, with the only loss coming in 2014. Kevin Calnan scored the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win in 2015.
Clarkson will first host Vassar in a 4:00 pm game on Hantz Turf Field on Friday afternoon before playing Bard at 1:00 pm on Saturday.
