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Men's Soccer

Top 10 Clarkson Highlights - #10 Michael King's Historic Season Ends with Slump-Breaking Shutout Victory Over St. Lawrence

The Top 10 Clarkson University Athletic Department Highlights of 2016-17 were carefully selected by the Clarkson Sports Information Staff. Top 10 Clarkson highlights will be posted on Mondays throughout the summer.

With a little over 30 minutes remaining in the game, St. Lawrence made a costly mistake. The Clarkson University Men's Soccer team had flipped the momentum and was on a breakaway when one of the Saints' defenders slid to try and stop the Golden Knights offensive push, but the slide worked out for the Green and Gold as the ball inadvertently was kicked past the end line and into the back of the St. Lawrence net.

From that point on, it was up to senior goalkeeper Michael King and the rest of the Clarkson defense to make that lone goal stand up.

The good news for the Golden Knights was that seemed to be the formula all season long. Entering the final game of the season against the Saints, Clarkson had scored just 15 goals in 15 games, but the team had allowed only 13 tallies. The bad news for the Knights? History was against them, as Clarkson had not defeated St. Lawrence in two decades. In fact, not a single member of the Knights was alive the last time Clarkson beats the Saints in 1993.


What could have been a gut-wrenching and pressure packed 30 minutes turned into business as usual for Clarkson in 2016. The Knights defense blocked two shots, saw King make a pair of saves, and watched three shots go harmlessly wide in the final third of the game as the Green and Gold posted their eighth shutout of the season, a 1-0 win over St. Lawrence in the season finale. In fact, no shot taken by the Saints even made it to King's hands in the final 19-plus minutes.

The headliner of the season-long defensive effort was certainly Michael King. Playing well ahead of his pace from previous seasons, King's 2016 performance was one of the best in the nation and certainly among the best in Clarkson's storied soccer history. A D3soccer.com Third-Team All-American, King posted the lowest goals against average (0.642) in program history, ranking 14th in the nation in that category. He also placed fourth in save percentage at .881 in the country, while his eight shutouts were just two shy of the single-season record at Clarkson. A Liberty League First-Team All-Star, King paced the conference in both total saves (74) and saves per game (4.93), as well as shutouts, goals against average and save percentage.

While King garnered the accolades, the Golden Knights defense was strong overall thanks to talented freshmen and sophomores earning the majority of the playing time. The entire defense stood out in 2016 as Clarkson ranked 33rd nationally in goals against average (0.78 gpg) and 29th in shutout percentage (0.50). Only sophomore James Homan joined King on the Liberty League All-Star team among the squad's defenders, but each of the members of the defensive corps had a hand in ending Clarkson's winless streak against St. Lawrence.

 
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Players Mentioned

James Homan

#19 James Homan

D
5' 10"
Sophomore
Michael King

#1 Michael King

GK
6' 0"
Senior

Players Mentioned

James Homan

#19 James Homan

5' 10"
Sophomore
D
Michael King

#1 Michael King

6' 0"
Senior
GK