St. Lawrence University Athletics

First-year Charlotte Manganello scored the lone goal in the 74th minute, and junior goalkeeper Reagan Murphy made six saves to lift the St. Lawrence University women's soccer team to a 1-0 Liberty League victory over Ithaca on Tuesday afternoon at Sandy MacAllaster Field in Canton, N.Y.

The Saints improved to 6-5-5 overall and 3-3-2 in Liberty League play, while the Bombers moved to 7-4-4 overall and 3-3-2 in conference action.

The win was the first for the Saints over the Bombers since the 2019 season, when St. Lawrence beat Ithaca 2-1 on Sandy MacAllaster Field. 

Ithaca had the early chances, outshooting St. Lawrence 5-2 in the first half.

Murphy made the first save of the match in the seventh minute, stopping a bottom-left shot from Lilyana Baldi, and denied Baldi again in the 44th minute.

At the other end, senior Zoe Rogan forced Ithaca goalkeeper Katrina Varnum into saves in the 18th and 21st minutes, and the teams went to the break scoreless.



The second half stayed tight. Murphy turned aside Zara Nourie in the 53rd minute and Jayne Bogle in the 60th, while junior Paige McLaughlin's shot was saved by Varnum in the 58th.

The Saints finally broke through in the 74th minute.

Sophomore Ella McPhaul carried the ball up the right wing and fired a pass in to Manganello, who got a piece of the ball. The shot went off the crossbar and, in the scramble, rolled past the goalkeeper to give the first-year her second goal in as many games, and the Saints the 1-0 lead.

Ithaca pushed for the equalizer in the closing minutes, but Murphy made clutch saves on Nourie in the 84th minute and Mia Medearis in the 87th to preserve the clean sheet and the key Liberty League win.

Murphy finished with six saves and recorded her third shutout along with the Saints' seventh clean sheet of the season, while Varnum made three saves for the Bombers.

The Bombers held a 13-6 edge in shots, 6-4 in shots on goal and 5-2 in corner kicks.

St. Lawrence, who is closing in on a Liberty League playoff berth, closes their regular-season schedule against Union on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2:30 p.m. at Sandy MacAllaster Field in Canton, N.Y., in the Saints' Senior Day match.