No. 13 St. Lawrence men's soccer is headed to the Sweet 16 after posting a 2-0 shutout over the University of Scranton in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sandy MacAllaster Field on Sunday afternoon.

The shutout is the 13^th of the season for the Saints senior goalkeeper Ryan Roethel, who is now tied with Brian Abernethy '12 for second on the program's all-time list. He finished with four saves on the day to keep the Royals off the board.

It was success on set pieces that helped the Saints seal the victory, as the team got goals from junior Noah Bunton – his second in as many games – and senior Dan Hunt; both off of free kick opportunities just outside the box.

The Saints came out flying against the Royals, generating a great scoring opportunity at the two-minute mark went Hunt made a run from his outside back position deep into the box and played a cross to classmate Ryan Grant on the far side. Grant ripped a shot from the six, but it was saved by Scranton defender Kyle Robbins; his first of two defensive saves on the afternoon.

The Saints next shot at goal served as the game winner, as Bunton gave the Scarlet and Brown a 1-0 lead when he caught the Royals sleeping in the 8^th minute with a quick restart from the edge of the box. The San Diego, Calif. native hit a shot along the ground through the wall and into the far lower 90 behind Royals' keeper Eric Hintz, who never saw the ball as he was still setting his defenders in front of him.

Already trailing 1-0 late in the first half, Hintz made a pair of sliding saves on first-year forwards to keep the deficit at one: first on Tapshak Augustine and then on Brendan McNamee just two minutes later. Robbins then added another defensive save in the 38^th minute to deny Hunt on the doorstep.  Hintz finished with five saves in the match.

Early in the second half, senior center back Harry Copeland made a sliding defensive safe of his own on a shot by Scranton's A.J. Nardone. The Royals chipped a ball over the defense to Nardone who was in one-on-one with Roethel, who had come off his line to challenge. Nardone touched the ball around the Saints keeper, but couldn't get by the Liberty League Player of the Year, as he was able to recover and clear the threat.

In the 69^th minute Hunt netted his fourth goal of the season to extend the St. Lawrence lead to 2-0. The Saints set up the free kick from 25 yards out with Bunton and junior Morgan Smith over the ball. With most of the Scranton defense on Copeland, who made his move early to draw them to the far side, Smith played  the ball along the ground to Hunt as he cut across the box from a one-time finish that snuck in between Hintz and the near post.

The Saints finished with a slight 15-13 advantage in shots in the contest, while corners were even at four per team.

With the win, St. Lawrence improves to 16-3-2 on the season and advance to play Haverford on the road in the Sweet 16. Stay tuned for more details.