SAINTS DOMINATE SALEM STATE TO CLAIM TOURNAMENT TITLE; EASTERN CONNECTICUT TOPS CLARKSON

Sept. 4: Without the help of senior captains Steve Watson and Jason Koshi, who were out for both games due to injury and illness, the St. Lawrence men’s soccer team beat Salem State in convincing fashion 4-0 in the second day of the Lotto Classic.

The first half was all SLU, and it started at 12:23 with an Elliot Savitz goal off of a cross from Gil Schaper. Almost a minute and a half later, Axel Galeano scored an unassisted goal from 40 yards out that found the top right corner of the net. Then at 18:20, Savitz found Chris Lonegan who crossed it to James Merrill who then shot it past the Viking goalie to give the Saints the 3-0 lead. In the 28 th minute, freshman Ryan Moore sent a beautiful cross to the right corner of the box where Brendan Tougher headed it into the net. At the half, the score was 4-0 St. Lawrence.

The second half was more of the same, with the Saints adding three more goals to make the final 7-0. Senior Gil Schaper scored at 46 th minute on a penalty kick. Then with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game, Merrill added a second goal on an assist from Tyler Dater, and David Osorno scored an unassisted goal to close it out.

Both SLU goalies Emilio Coletta and Joey Webb saw action, but recorded no saves, as the Saints took 32 shots to Salem State’s 2. Paolo Tirella and Pawel Bryzey recorded 9 saves for the Vikings.

In the second game of the day, Eastern Connecticut outlasted Clarkson 3-1. Fotis Anastasiou scored 2 goals for ECSU, and David Sutera had the other, while Richard Bruneau and Carl Segura picked up assists for Eastern Connecticut. For Clarkson, David Jette had a goal from teammate D’Amico, but it wasn’t enough to stop ECSU.

The All-Tournament Team is as follows:

Clarkson: Justin Crowley, Kevin Martens

Salem State: Leonard Mlati, Yuta Kizaki

Eastern Connecticut: Marcin Kaczerski, Pat Kozloski, Derek Miles

St. Lawrence: James Merrill, Mike Bobbie, Elliot Savitz, Axel Galeano

The Saints will play next Friday and Saturday against Rochester and Geneseo at 4:00pm and 2:00pm, respectively, at Sandy MacAllaster Field in Canton, NY. Geneseo went to the final four last year, and Head Coach Bob Durocher is expecting some great competition this weekend.

SAINTS OVERCOME EASTERN CONNECTICUT, 2-1, IN OVERTIME

Sept. 3: Freshman Paul LaMarca made the game winning goal in the 5 th minute of overtime to drive the Saints over Eastern Connecticut. Elliot Savitz pushed the ball to teammate James Merrill who sent a beautiful cross to LaMarca in front of the net. LaMarca dove and headed the ball past the outstretched hands of ECSU goalie Marcin Kaczerski for the win.

Things did not look good for St. Lawrence as they fell behind just 6 minutes into the second half on a goal from Eastern Connecticut’s Brian Clark, assisted by Elvis Perndoj. It wasn’t until 86:11, that Nick Mangee sent a corner kick into the goalie box where it met Chris Lonegan. Lonegan headed it down to freshman Ian Fairlie who then booted it into the net for the tie.

In the first half of play, SLU took 12 shots to Eastern Connecticut’s 2. The two Warrior goalies who played in the first half, Jay Barney and Marcin Kaczerski respectively, each made two saves. Kaczerski made a crucial diving save on a shot by freshman Joey Mattina with just 30 seconds remaining.

Freshman Emilio Coletta made 4 saves in the net for SLU. Barney had 2 saves before he was replaced by Kaczerski, who had 9.

The Saints will face Salem State tomorrow at noon at Sandy MacAllaster Field. Eastern Connecticut will play Clarkson. Earlier today, Clarkson lost to Salem State 5-2.

JORDAN JAMES JOINS SAINT COACHING STAFF

Jordan James returns to the Saints as an assistant coach for the 2005 season after a very successful goalkeeping career at St. Lawrence.

James finished his season with the Wilmington Hammerheads, a USL 2nd Division team, last summer. He recorded the second lowest goals against average in the 2nd Division .90. James was Runner Up for the Goalkeeper of the Year Statistical Award, and a 2nd Division Semi-Finalist.

In 2004, James played for the Albany Black Watch Highlanders where he played in 15 games and recorded 4 shutouts. He ended with a record of 12-3-3, which was a franchise record, and was 4th in goals against, 2nd in goalkeeper wins, and 3rd in goals against average, recording 70 saves on the year.

At St. Lawrence, James played in 44 games and had an overall record of 36-5-3. His career goals against average was .57, and he recorded a .820 save percentage. James earned 24 shutouts, second only to the now professional player Greg Sutton. In 2003, he recorded a school record 13 shutouts, was a NSCAA Recgional All American 1st Team, made the UCAA All Tournament 1st team, the Lotto Classic All Tournament 1st team. In 2004, James was a senior captain, a NSCAA Regional All American, and Liberty League First Team. His team went to the final four in 2002, and was the regional finalist in the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

James will also be helping with the Women's Soccer Team at SLU.

SAINTS READY FOR ACTION THIS WEEKEND

The Saint men’s soccer team will embark on a quest for an eighth straight NCAA tournament appearance when it opens the 2005 season against Eastern Connecticut State College in the second game of the 2005 Lotto Invitational Tournament at SLU’s MacAllaster Field Saturday afternoon.

Clarkson will play Salem State in the first game of the round-robin tournament at 2pm on Saturday with the Saints kicking off their season at 4 p.m. The Saints and Salem State will play Sunday at noon with Clarkson and Eastern Connecticut to follow.

The Saints enter the season-opening tournament ranked 12 th nationally in pre-season polls and have a nucleus of players returning from last season’s 16-3-1 team which lost in overtime to Williams in the regional final. The Saints have made eight NCAA tournament appearances since 1996 including the last seven years in a row and have hosted the regional every year since 1998. They have a 121-11-8 record during that seven year span.

While several top players return from last season’s 16-3-1 team, the Saints will have a large contingent of newcomers vying for playing time and will have a rookie in goal for the first time in several seasons. Jordan James, who had a 0.59 goals against average, playing every minute in goal last season, will be back with the Saints, but as an assistant coach when his professional season ends with the Wilmington Hammerheads. Joey Webb, an all state selection from Pleasant Grove, Utah and Emilio Coletta, a member of the Canadian National Team pool and an all star from Montreal will vie for the starting position.

The rest of the Saint lineup will be a blend of experience and talented newcomers. Steve Watson, a second team NSCAA All America last year and the Saints’ leading scorer with 13 goals and an assist for 27 points, returns and is a top candidate for a second straight Liberty League Player of the Year Award. Watson is a standout in the backfield, but also moves up to become a potent scorer on offense. Graduate student Jason Koshi joins midfielders Nick Mangee and Elliott Savitz and forward/midfielder Gil Schaper among the three-year veterans of the Saint program.

Junior Charlie Bogosian and sophomore David Orsono were also key offensive contributors last season and with help from the current rookie crop will try to pick up the scoring slack created by the graduation of a dozen seniors from last year’s team.