#2 Saints Claim Lotto Title with 2-0 Victory

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Tara Freeman
Nick Lincoln '13 scored his first goal of the season in a 2-0 win over LaVerne University.

Sep 1:  The nationally ranked #2 St. Lawrence University men's soccer team took the top spot at the North Country Lotto Classic with a 2-0 victory over LaVerne University in the final game of the tournament.

The Saints, now 2-0, poured pressure on in the early moments of the game.  Senior midfielder Sam DeMello provided a soft touch pass into the middle of the penalty box to Brian Gilloran, and the senior forward made one move to strike the ball past LaVerne keeper Richard Duran at the 3:06 mark.

Three minutes later the Saints tacked on another goal to bring the score to 2-0.  Senior Will Congdon took a corner kick from the right side and sent a pass all the way through the box, finding the head of classmate Nick Lincoln, who deposited the ball into the back of the net at 6:10.

Though the Saints held an 18-5 advantage in shots throughout the game, those two goals were all that they would get as many went wide or high.  LaVerne had a pair of well struck shots as well in the first half that didn't quite find their mark.

In the second half, St. Lawrence had several hard shots on the frame, including an impressive individual effort by first-year student Ryan Grant that resulted in a diving save from Duran, but the Saints were unable to drive another goal home.

St. Lawrence held a more narrow 4-3 lead in corner kick chances.  Duran made eight saves for the Leopards, while senior goalkeeper Nate Goss-Woliner had to come out a few times to clear chances, but was not called to make a save in the game. 

The Saints will be back in action with a pair of non-conference road games against Rochester and Geneseo State next weekend, Sept. 7 and 8, respectively. 

All-Tournament Team: Sam DeMello (SLU), Shaka Pilgrim (SLU), Andrew Bednarsky (SLU), Alex Laird (SLU), Ryan D'Amico (Endicott), Kevin Gnecco (Endicott), Abdulla Al Khalifa (Endicott), Trevor Blackwell (Clarkson), Jacob Duff (Clarkson), James Cowie (Clarkson), Ryan Estrada (LaVerne), and Michael Reed (LaVerne).