Sophomore
Sammy Bothwell led the offense with a goal and an assist, while fellow second-year
Zach Amato earned his fourth clean sheet of the season to lead the No. 24 St. Lawrence University men's soccer team to a 2-0 win over No. 14 Hobart on Saturday afternoon at Sandy MacAllaster Field in Canton, N.Y.
St. Lawrence improved to 5-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 in Liberty League play, while the Statesmen fell to 6-1-0 and 0-1-0 in league play. The win put the Scarlet and Brown atop the conference standings following the first weekend of Liberty League action.
The statement win was the Saints' second over a ranked opponent this week after the team defeated No. 7 Cortland on the road Wednesday for its first ranked win since 2022.
"Another great win from the guys; it's been an incredible seven days with three unbelievable opponents in Oneonta, Cortland, and then today Hobart, who is an excellent team coached by one of the best in the country, Shawn Griffin," said head coach
Mike Toshack. "The guys have really dug deep and put in some performances that took everyone as deep as we could go to get these results. We're very pleased to start the Liberty League with a win against the defending champions and lay down a marker. We hopefully look to continue that form as we look to SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday, and then host Skidmore in the league next Saturday. But very proud of the team and very proud of the guys; they work for everything they get and will hopefully be able to keep progressing."
St. Lawrence was in attack mode early and nearly scored in just the second minute. A ball was played into the Hobart box by
Grant Gilmer, where senior captain
Baker Diaz got a volley off the pass. The attempt rang off the crossbar and did well to set the tone for the offense.
The Saints recorded the first seven shots of the match before the Statesmen registered a chance on goal. In the 28th minute, Griffin Couts had a good look, but his strike sailed left.
Shortly afterward, the Scarlet and Brown came back the other way and opened the scoring.
Eric Edmonds had the ball on the left side of the box and fired a shot that was turned away by Jake Hans. The rebound came out to none other than Bothwell, who scored his third goal of the week to give the Saints the lead before halftime.
After Hobart was held without a shot on goal by the stout St. Lawrence backline in the first half, Amato got his first test in the 52nd minute from Daniel Scali, but he kept the ball out to preserve the lead.
Moments later, the Saints countered to double their advantage. Bothwell had the ball on the left side of the box and centered a pass to senior captain
Dennis Argueta. The midfielder buried it into the top bin to make it 2-0 and send a raucous Sandy MacAllaster Field crowd into a frenzy.
Hobart applied pressure thereafter in an attempt to get back into the game, but only one shot reached Amato, who made the save and helped seal the victory.
Amato made two saves for his fourth clean sheet, while Hans was busy stopping eight of the Saints' 10 shots on goal.
St. Lawrence outshot Hobart 20-13 and held a 10-2 edge in shots on goal, while the Statesmen had a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks.
The red-hot Saints will be back on the pitch on Tuesday, Sept. 22, when they head up Route 11 to take on SUNY Potsdam in a 7 p.m. matchup.
Â
