Sophomore
Sammy Bothwell opened the scoring just one minute and four seconds into the contest, and
Grant Gilmer tacked on an insurance goal in the 30
th minute as the St. Lawrence University men's soccer team defeated SUNY Geneseo 2-0 under the Friday night lights in Geneseo, N.Y.
St. Lawrence improved to 2-0 with the win, while the Knights leveled their record at 1-1.
"Another great performance from the team from a defensive standpoint," said head coach
Mike Toshack. "We worked really hard to keep the clean sheet again, and the team's defense was very good, and we are very happy with the performance. We got ahold of the ball when we needed to and saw out the game against a Geneseo team that is extremely well-coached by Mark Howlett. Very proud of the boys, and we're looking forward to our next match on Wednesday against SUNY Canton."
The Scarlet and Brown got things going early, pressuring the Geneseo back line from the kickoff. Bothwell carried the ball into the home team's end in the opening minute and laid a pass off to
Nicholas Petrone, who found
Kenneth Mejia Lopez on the left wing. The sophomore didn't even settle the ball before firing a cross into a streaking Bothwell, who headed the ball past Max Crothall for the 1-0 lead.
Bothwell nearly doubled the lead in the 12
th minute with a chance, but Crothall kept the Saints at bay. St. Lawrence would not stop, however, as they generated two more chances in the next 17 minutes from Bothwell and Petrone, but were once again saved.
The dam opened yet again for the Saints in the 30
th minute as they found the twine for the 2-0 lead. The captain Petrone was once again in playmaking mode as he collected a flicked pass from
Tristan Warner and closed in on a pair of Geneseo defenders. The midfielder threaded a through ball into Gilmer, who finished the pass through a pressuring defender and the goalkeeper to take the two-goal lead.
The teams mustered three shots the rest of the half, but none found the frame, and the game went into the break at 2-0.
While chasing the deficit, Geneseo started to apply some pressure on the Saints' defense in the second half, but had trouble getting shots on the frame in the opening minutes. Owen Burke finally got a bid on goal in the 52
nd minute, but
Zach Amato corralled the effort to keep the score as is.
St. Lawrence's back line and defensive effort held Geneseo to three shot attempts and no shots on goal in the final 38 minutes to secure the win and the clean sheet.
Amato earned his second shutout of the young season with his two saves in the match, while Crothall stopped four shots in the home goal.
St. Lawrence led 13-10 in shot attempts and 6-2 in shots on goal, while the Knights had a 7-2 edge in corner kicks.
The Scarlet and Brown will be back on the pitch on Wednesday, September 9, when the team hosts SUNY Canton in a 4:30 p.m. match at Sandy MacAllaster Field.
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