Potsdam, N.Y. - Two first half goals were the difference as the Clarkson University Men's soccer team dropped a mid-week matchup to St. Lawrence University, Wednesday evening.
The loss drops the Golden Knights to 5-2-2 overall, 2-1 in conference play. A quick turnaround faces the team as they welcome Hobart on Saturday in another Liberty League contest.
St. Lawrence settled into possession early on, keeping the ball high in their defensive and middle thirds of the field. Three offsides surrendered by the Saints in the opening 12 minutes displayed the emphasis the visitors held on gaining an early advantage. That breakthrough would follow in the 22nd minute when Dennis Argueta won possession off a Golden Knight midfielder about 40 yards from goal. Argueta quickly transitioned into attack, taking three touches towards goal before laying a through ball on the foot of Ryan Campbell, who tucked it away for the opener.
Unsatisfied with just one, St. Lawrence would continue to ask questions of the Clarkson defense, forcing Carter Kladstrup and the Golden Knight backline to deal with the danger. The visitors would find that second goal they were chasing in the 42nd minute as another quick transition from midfield isolated Campbell at the top of the 18 yard box in a 3v2 with teammates to the left and right of him. Campbell did well to hold the ball, sliding a pass to his left for Nicholas Petrone to rocket a left-footed shot into the bottom right of the goal for 2-0.
Both teams traded off-target shots early on as the second half kicked off under the first evening sky of October. Petrone forced Kladstrup to make a smart save in the 58th minute with a shot from the left side of the penalty box towards the senior's left. Kladstrup got down quickly and managed to hang on to the ball, preventing any chance for the onrushing Saints attackers to knock in the rebound.
The best chance of the game for Clarkson materialized off of a set piece following a foul in the visitor's defensive third. The floated ball in bounced around the box before landing to Morgan Burke who struck the ball with his right foot but the shot was too close to Zach Amato who did well to parry the ball away. Lars Stephensson nearly tapped in the loose ball on the rebound but Amato reacted quickly and recovered to his right post to deny Clarkson any foothold up to that point.
St. Lawrence would come close to adding a third in the 81st minute with Grant Gilmer receiving a well-timed through ball on another man-up break. The left-footed shot from the attacker managed to get by Kladstrup but struck the outside of the left post, denying the Saints another goal.
St. Lawrence held a significant advantage in shots (14-5) and shots on goal (5-2). For Clarkson, Kladstrup would be credited with three stops in goal, while his counterpart Amato, would make two for the Saints. Zach Shufelt, Juan Pestarino, Burke and Stephensson all registered shots for the Knights.
