St. Lawrence University Athletics

Despite a dominant effort and erasing an early deficit to tie the game at 1-1, the St. Lawrence men's soccer team fell 5-3 on penalty kicks to Washington & Lee in the first round of the NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament at Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, Pa. The Saints finish the year 11-4-1.

After conceding a goal in transition in the 8^th minute, captain Rob Brandell netted the equalizer in the 33^rd minute to reenergize the Saints' attack.

"Tough loss for the team," head coach Mike Toshack said. "I think it was pretty lopsided in the amount of possession we had and we created some chances and converted one of them we needed to have one more."

Viktor Dolberg gave the Generals an early lead, but Brandell pulled St. Lawrence even with his second of the year when he dribbled through traffic and into the box setting up a shot in close for sophomore striker Charlton Kelly which was saved by W & L goalkeeper Gillen Beck. Brandell collected the rebound on the edge of the six-yard box and finished into the middle of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

The Saints finished with a 17-8 edge in shots, including a 10-3 advantage through the first 45 minutes. They had a slight 4-3 lead in shots on goal.

Midway through the second overtime period, goalkeeper Mike Smith came off his line to make an incredible sliding save for St. Lawrence with Kevin Molnar closing flanked by defenders Christian Barral-Arteta and Ryan Crouse. Smith finished with two saves, while Beck made three stops for the Generals.

Barral-Arteta, Jethro Dede and Ross Suitor converted in the round of penalty kicks for St. Lawrence, but all five Washington & Lee shooters connected to secure the win and help the Generals advance to the second round to face host institution Franklin & Marshall.

"The soccer the boys played and the level they played (at); we're very, very proud of them," Toshack added. "The seniors that played their last game for St. Lawrence really did themselves proud today. (I'm) really honored to coach the team and very excited and looking forward to getting on next year and getting back here."

Barral-Arteta, Suitor, Manny Collins, Noah Bunton and Matt Stevenson will graduate having made four straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. Brandell, a member of the Class of 2017, has a year of eligibility remaining after missing the 2015 season with injury.