St. Lawrence University Athletics

Junior Paige McLaughlin scored a brace for her first two collegiate goals and was joined by Lily Murphy, who scored the first of her career, as the St. Lawrence University women's soccer team rolled to a 3-0 win over SUNY Canton on Wednesday afternoon at Sandy MacAllaster Field.

St. Lawrence improved to 3-1-3 with the win, while the Roos fell to 0-5-2.

The Saints' offense was humming early as Zoe Rogan had a chance to score in just the fourth minute but was stopped by Nicole Morrow. However, moments later, in the ninth minute, Rogan turned playmaker and found McLaughlin in a dangerous scoring area. The junior collected the pass and beat the keeper to make it a 1-0 game early.

The goal was the first of McLaughlin's collegiate career.

The Scarlet and Brown continued to pour on the pressure as they controlled possession and finally broke through for their second goal in the 40th minute.

Valentina Moretti had the ball on the right side of the Roos' end and threaded a pass forward to Murphy. The sophomore put a shot on net, and the ball ping-ponged around before appearing to be saved, but it was ruled to have crossed the line to give the Saints a 2-0 lead at the break.

Murphy, like her teammate, celebrated her first collegiate goal with the tally.

In total, the Saints had 17 shot attempts in the first half and added 20 more in the second.



The chances kept coming for St. Lawrence in the second half, and the sustained pressure led to a third goal in the 54th minute.

Canton was attempting to clear the ball from danger deep in its own end, but an errant pass found McLaughlin. The junior fired home her second goal of the day for the brace and a 3-0 lead.

The Roos recorded their first shot attempt in the 64th minute when Kate Whitely got her foot on a ball outside the box, but her shot was blocked before it reached Zoe Davenport.

Davenport earned her second win and third clean sheet of the season despite not facing a shot on goal, while Morrow was strong in the visitors' net, stopping 18 shots.

St. Lawrence finished with decisive advantages in shots (37-1), shots on goal (21-0), and corner kicks (10-1).

The Scarlet and Brown will hit the road this weekend as they head to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for their Liberty League opener against Skidmore on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 3 p.m.