Michael McDougald scored the lone goal of the game, off a pass from Marvin Sibanda to give the No. 15 St. Lawrence University men's soccer team a 1-0 win over RIT in the Liberty League Semifinals. The win sends the Saints to the Liberty League Championship game on Sunday afternoon at Sandy MacAllaster Field.

St. Lawrence improved to 12-1-5 on the season with the win, while the Tigers saw their season end at 8-5-5.

In a defensively minded first half of play, both teams struggled to get good looks to the frame. It wasn't until six minutes left in the opening 45 for a grade-A chance to arise.

With 5:52 left in the first half, Sibanda had a great open look in the RIT box but was stymied by Jason Trapp. Moments later, the Scarlet and Brown kept up their pressure as Sibanda got another good look, this time hitting the glove of Trapp then the post to keep the game at 0-0 at the half.

The scoreless contest continued into the second half until the Saints claimed the lead. Moments before the goal, the Tigers sent in a dangerous cross that nearly connected. St. Lawrence would counterstrike as Sibanda, who had the ball at midfield, feathered a perfect pass ahead to a streaking McDougald. The junior outran the RIT backline and buried a ball past Trapp to gain the 1-0 lead at the 34:39 mark of the second half.



With less than ten minutes on the clock, the Saints nearly doubled their lead when Ryan Campbell was served a ball by Miles Levy and had green grass in front of him. The first-year forward worked the ball down the field and get a shot onto Trapp that was stopped. The rebound came out to Sibanda, who got another shot off that was stopped.

The Scarlet and Brown kept pressing and had three more great chances. McDougald had another point-blank look that was stopped by Trapp. The rebound found Sibanda, who rifled a ball off an RIT defender in pace of the goalkeeper. The blocked shot came back to McDougald, who also had his ball stopped by a team save.

RIT had a golden opportunity in the final two minutes as a perfectly placed pass left a Tiger forward all alone with Ben Woelfinger. The shot rang off the post and the remaining time was bled out to send the Saints to the Liberty League Championship.

Woelfinger earned his eighth clean sheet of the season with eight saves, while Trapp stopped five of the six shots he faced.

The Tigers outshot the Saints 16-13, but the shots on goal were tied at eight a piece. RIT had four corner kicks to St. Lawrence's two.

The top-seeded Scarlet and Brown will return to Sandy MacAllaster Field on Sunday to host the Liberty League Championship game against No. 3 Skidmore, who advanced against No. 2 Vassar in penalty kicks.