Townsend Sends Classmates Out a Winner on Senior Day
by:
Whit HaynesSenior Meg Howard battles Potsdam's Kelly McMahon in Wednesday's game
Senior captain Becca Townsend made sure her classmates had a pleasant "Senior Day" as she scored the game winning goal on a penalty kick and assisted on the other Saint goal as St. Lawrence edged Potsdam State 2-1 in a women's college soccer game at MacAllaster Field Wednesday afternoon.
The Saints dominated nearly from start to finish, but Potsdam scored the game's first goal on a quick counter and an outstanding shot by Heather Johnson 3:25 into the game and the Bears, winless in their last ten games, nearly tied it as Courtney Poirier fired a shot toward the far post on a breakaway with just two seconds to play and Saint goalie Abby van Geldern tipped it wide for just her second save of the game.
SLU got off to a slow start in the game, but kept the ball in the Bears' end of the field until Potsdam broke it out and scored on its first shot as Poirier fed Johnson and Johnson's arching ball caught the top left corner of the net for her sixth goal of the season.
The Saints tied the game at the 26:14 mark of the first half as Kristina Peso took a pass from Townsend and scored from near the top of the box into an empty net as Potsdam starting goalie Nicole Volpi charged out to try to cut the angle.
SLU scored the winning goal just under ten minutes later when a Saint was pulled down in the penalty area after Peso's shot clanged off the post and Townsend put the penalty shot to the far side of the net past Volpi.
Sarah Casey took over in goal in the second half and made ten saves for Potsdam to keep the Bears in the game. She had point-blank stops on Marcelle Justison five minutes into the second half and made a great save after a pretty move and shot by Stephanie Sayward mid-way through the second half.
"Potsdam defended very well," said Saint coach Franco Bari. "They were organized, and at times very dangerous in transition. I was particularly impressed with our team's possession and ability to create many dangerous goal-scoring opportunities. We came out a little flat, but did what we needed to do to get a good result.We have a very close-knit group and it was evident in our emotions surrounding Senior Day.
"I'm glad we can send our six seniors off on a positive result in their final home game."
SLU, now 8-5-3, outshot Potsdam 45-4 overall and 22-4 in shots on goal. Casey and Volpi each had ten saves for the Bears while van Geldern finished with two for the Saints.