A one-goal loss to Rensselaer in the opening round of the Liberty League Tournament ended the Clarkson University Lacrosse team’s bid for a return showing in the NCAA playoffs. The Golden Knights, the #3 seed in the tournament, fell to the second-seeded Red Hawks 10-9 at Harkness Field in Troy, NY on Friday afternoon. The Green and Gold closed out the season with a 7-7 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in the conference.
In the other Liberty League semifinal contest, regular-season champion Skidmore defeated #4-seeded St. Lawrence 9-4 in Saratoga Springs. Rensselaer will play at Skidmore in Sunday’s championship game.
Rensselaer (7-7) scored the last three goals of the game to record their second one-goal victory over the Knights this spring. The Engineers also defeated Clarkson 4-3 on April 16.
Junior Jon Parks (Canton, NY) put the Green and Gold on top 9-7 with 13:32 left, but RPI tallied twice just over a minute later to tie the score and then took its only lead of the contest with Chris Sherman’s second goal of the day, the game-winner with 4:25 remaining. Following Sherman's score, the Golden Knights held the ball in the offensive zone for over three minutes but could not score. RPI netminder Ryan Michels made two saves in that span and Clarkson missed the net on four other opportunities.
Junior Brian Hanlon (Marcellus, NY) and sophomore Mike McKenna (Camden, DE) led the Knights in scoring with a game-high three goals each. Hanlon also added an assist. Senior Rich Burritt (Oswego, NY) chipped in two goals and two assists.
Clarkson, which took a 2-0 lead to start the game on goals by Hanlon and Burritt, held a 3-2 advantage after the first quarter and led 4-2 early in the second before the Red Hawks evened the game 4-4 at the half. The Knights out-scored RPI 4-3 in the third quarter to take an 8-7 lead after 45 minutes of play.
Rensselaer out shot Clarkson 42-32, but the Knights held a 40-36 edge in ground balls. Senior Joe Zebrowski (Liverpool, NY) posted 14 saves for Clarkson.
