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2000 Season Stories
MONTACER CHOSEN FOR UMBRO SELECT
January 9, 2001 — St. Lawrence University senior All America Ali Montacer is one of two NCAA Division III players who have been chosen to play in the sixth annual Umbro Select All Star soccer Classic to be played Sunday, Feb. 4 at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, FL . Montacer is the third Saint player to earn a spot in the prestigious senior all star game. Andre White was the MVP of the game in 1996 and goaltender Greg Sutton played in the 1999 all star game.
The Saint standout, a four-time All America including back-to-back first team selections as a junior and senior, will play on the west team. Shane Larkin, a midfielder from Rowan is the other Division III representative and will play on the East team. The rosters include two players each from Division I champion Connecticut and semifinalist SMU.
MONTACER IS UCAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR;
November 14 — Ali Montacer, a three-time All America and a captain of St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team, has been named Player of the Year by the coaches in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association.
Montacer finished his senior season with five goals and two assists for 12 points and spearheaded a Saint midfield which helped St. Lawrence finish the season as the nation's top defensive team in Division III. Four of his five goals were game winners. He was a four-year starter for the Saints, who went 64-6-7 during his career.
He helped the Saints to three straight NCAA tournament berths including a 22-0-0 season and the NCAA Division III Championship a year ago. The Saints finished this season 16-1-2 with a 1-0 loss to Hamilton in the NCAA Northeast Regional final ending a 60-game unbeaten streak, the second longest in NCAA Division III history.
Saint freshman Julian Daniels, who scored three goals and had three assists for nine points as a rookie was named the UCAA Rookie of the Year.
Named to the first all star team were Montacer, senior forward Howard Beckford, who led the Saints with six goals and three assists, senior midfielder Bryan Burdick, junior Back Razool Alizadeh and senior back Tim Bealer. Dnaiels and junior Scott Dulay were named to the second team at forward while sophomore Shawn Watson was a second team back and sophomore goaltender Dustin Crooker was named the second team goaltender.
HAMILTON UPSETS SAINTS IN NCAA REGIONAL FINAL, 1-0
November 12 — Hamilton College scored the only goal of the game 29:11 into play and held off defending NCAA Division III champion St. Lawrence University for a 1-0 victory in the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional championship game at St. Lawrence Sunday afternoon.
The Continental win snapped St. Lawrence's unbeaten streak at 60 games, the longest in the nation in any division. Hamilton, making its first NCAA tournament appearance, improves to 11-3-2 while the Saints ended their season 16-1-2. The Continentals will host Messiah, the Mid-Atlantic regional champion in the quarterfinal round.
The Saints, who advanced with a 5-0 win over Plymouth State in the first round of the regional, nearly took the lead 3:30 into the game as Jamal Ballantyne hit a cross from the left corner and the field that Matt Bogosian volleyed off the crossbar. Just two minutes later, Hamilton goalie Doug Bellard robbed Bryan Burdick, diving to his right on Burdick's right-footed shot from the top of the penalty box. The Saints had another golden opportunity denied when Ballatyne broke free in the corner, this time on the right side, and crossed the ball to Howard Beckford who shot the ball for the wide open net, but David Bugliardi came out of nowhere to kick the ball away.
After thwarting several golden Saints' opportunities, Hamilton cashed in on their best chance of the first half. Dimitry Maurice found the handle on a loose ball just over midfield and caught St. Lawrence goalie Dustin Crooker off his line, placing the ball in the right side of net at 29:11 and giving the Continentals a 1-0 halftime lead. It was Maurice's second goal of the tournament and third of the season.
It was the first goal the Saints had given up in NCAA tournament play since the regional final a year ago, a streak of 473:20.
St. Lawrence came just inches from tying the game with 11:02 remaining in the game as Scott Dulay volleyed a ball from inside the six-yard line, but again Bellard was there to deflect the ball over the net.
St. Lawrence outshot Hamilton 16-6 with Bellard making nine saves for the Continentals and Crooker three for the Saints. SLU had eight corner kicks to Hamilton's seven.
"We got a great game from Doug Bellard, who made some tremendous saves," said Hamilton coach Perry Nizzi after the game. "We caught a couple of breaks and were able to hold on. I don't think the odds could have been any more against us. Being on their home field and going against that winning streak, after double overtime yesterday and with some injuries we were trying to deal with, we needed a perfect scenario, and we got one today."
"Things finally caught up with us today," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "All season long we've had obstacles to overcome, whether it was discipline problems or injury problems, and throughout the season our seniors did a great job of keeping our team together. It was a tough year for us. I know it didn't look that way on paper but we were battling all season long. Today, we created five or six good opportunities but we just couldn't quite cash in on them."
SAINTS EASE PAST PLYMOUTH STATE
November 11 — Three first half goals, all by different players, propelled St. Lawrence to a 5-0 win over Plymouth State in the first round of the NCAA Division III Northeast Men's Soccer Regional at Memorial Field on the campus of St. Lawrence University Saturday afternoon. Dustin Crooker made four saves in net for the Saints as they advance to play Hamilton College at Memorial Field at 1:00 p.m.
St. Lawrence took control of the game early, missing several good chances in the first ten minutes of the game before finally cashing in. A flurry of St. Lawrence shots were thwarted, but Jon-Michael Olmstead gained control of a rebound and shot from the top of the penalty box into the lower-right corner of the net. Plymouth State goaltender Brad Wilby was screened on the shot and never had a chance at making the save as the Saints took a 1-0 lead 16:49 into the game.
Just under six minutes later, Allan Maragh netted the Saints second goal, his third of the season. Scott Dulay extended the lead to 3-0 on a goal from Matt Bogosian at 28:18 of the first half.
St. Lawrence goaltender Crooker was rarely challenged, but came up with the big save when he needed it, recording his eighth shutout of the season.
Tomasz Trspis tacked on another goal with just over ten minutes to play on breakaway, shooting past charging goaltender Wilby into the nearside of the net.
A yellow-card penalty inside the eighteen-yard box on Ceamus McDermott with 2:38 left on the game clock gave the Saints a penalty kick opportunity. Howard Beckford took the kick and buried it in the lower-left hand corner of the net to cap the scoring at 5-0.
St. Lawrence advances to the Northeast Regional championship game and will face the winner of the Plattsburgh State/Hamilton game that will be played later today. The championship game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon at Memorial Field.
DULAY SCORES ONE, SETS UP WINNER AS SAINTS GO UNBEATEN AGAIN AT 15-0-2
November 4 — Junior forward Scott Dulay scored the game's first goal on a breakaway and then set up the eventual game winner as St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team completed its third consecutive undefeated regular season with a 2-1 win at Rochester under the lights Saturday night.
The win at Rochester completed a 15-0-2 regular season and runs the Saint unbeaten streak to 59 games. The Saints entered the game ranked fourth nationally and first in the New York State region. The Saints were awarded the top seed in the NCAA Northeast Regional and will host the Plymouth State, a 3-1 first round winner over Norwich, in the semifinals Saturday at 11 a.m.
Plattsburgh and Hamilton will play in the other regional semifinal at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with the Saturday winners to meet at 1 p.m. Sunday for the right to advance and host the quarterfinal round.
"That was a huge win for us," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "It was important for us to get a jump on them, and we had a couple of nice scoring plays which got us going the right way. Scott Dulay has been playing very well since coming back from an injury, and he was outstanding again Saturday night."
The Saints are still battling injuries up front as they have all season, and were without Howard Beckford for the Rochester game.
Dulay's opening goal, his first of the season, came on a breakaway at 20:31 as he took a pass from Bryan Burdick and beat Rochester goalie Brian Minehan in a one-on-one. Dulay and Jamal Ballantyne then collaborated to set up the eventual game winner 1:43 into the second half as they fed Eric Harms who beat Minehan from about nine yards out with a shot to the left center of the goal cage. It was the third goal of the season for Harms and his fourth point in the last four games.
While Rochester got one back when Jaques Appleby scored from about eight yards out at 50:56, Saint goalie Dustin Crooker prevented further scoring in one of his busiest games of the year.
Crooker made five saves and finished the regular season with a 0.18 goals against average which leads the nation according to the most recent NCAA statistics.
The Saints finished the regular season as the nation's best defensive team with a 0.22 goals against average, allowing just four goals in 17 games. The only other NCAA men's team to surrender just four goals this season is Division I Stanford. SLU is among the nation's leaders in shutout percentage with 13 and set St. Lawrence records for fewest goals allowed and shutouts in a season. The Saints allowed an average of 4.6 shots per game by the opposition during the regular season.
MONTACER'S OVERTIME GOAL CONTINUES SAINT RUN
October 25 — Senior All America Ali Montacer scored his fifth goal of the season and fourth game winning goal of the year just 2:54 into overtime at Plattsburgh on Wednesday as St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team moved to the brink of completing their third consecutive unbeaten season.
The Saints turned back the Cardinals, ranked fourth in the region, 1-0 for their third straight 1-0 win and fifth in the last seven games. St. Lawrence improves to 14-0-2 overall and is riding a 58-game unbeaten streak.
The Saints are ranked first in the New York State Region and fourth nationally and are defending NCAA Division III Champions. The Saints lead the nation in shutout percentage with 13 of 16 and have the lowest team goals against average nationally at 0.18. Sophomore goaltender Dustin Crooker leads all Division III goalies nationally with a 0.10 goals against average and recorded his third straight shutout and seventh of the season against Plattsburgh.
Montacer scored from Eric Harms, who transferred to St. Lawrence from Plattsburgh two years ago, off a corner kick at 92:54 to give the Saints the win. The Saints outshot Plattsburgh, now 14-3-0 10-2 with Crooker needing just one save to record the shutout. SLU also had a 6-2 edge in corner kicks.
"It was a little bit of a ragged game at times, but I thought we controlled things pretty well defensively," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "Ali came through with another big goal for us on a well-executed corner kick play."
John Schreiner had six saves for Plattsburgh, which was the last team to defeat the Saints at the end of the 1997 regular season.
The Saints will close out the regular season with a 7 p.m. game at the University of Rochester, ranked third in New York State and 23rd nationally, on November 4. The game could well determine NCAA berths for both teams and seeding in the tournament. The Saints missed out on the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association automatic berth when Hamilton, which lost to the Saints 1-0, beat Hobart 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday to finish with a 6-1-0 record and 18 points in league play based on three points for a win and one for a tie. The Saints, 5-0-2 in league play, finished with 17 points.
"It will be a big game for us," said Durocher. "The good thing is that we have some time to get healthy…we've got a lot of banged up players."
MARAGH GIVES SAINTS ANOTHER ONE-GOAL WIN
October 21 — Saint junior Allan Maragh netted the only goal of the game to give St. Lawrence their second one-goal victory this week and keep the unbeaten streak (now 57 games) alive. The Saints improve to 13-0-2 overall with the win over host RIT.
Maragh scored the game-winner with just 19 seconds remaining in the first half. Teammate Dan Schmitt took an SLU free kick and there was a scramble in front of the RIT goal. Maragh got a foot on it and beat RIT's Aaron Landers to the back of the net.
The Saints outshot the Tigers 15-1, as goalie Dustin Crooker needed a single save to record his second consecutive shutout. The Saints also held a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.
RIT, who falls to 7-4-2 overall, got 10 saves from Landers.
MONTACER GIVES SAINTS WIN AT NAZARETH
October 20 — St. Lawrence, ranked fourth nationally, got a goal from senior captain Ali Montacer to defeat Nazareth 1-0 on Friday afternoon. The win extends the Saint unbeaten streak to 56 games.
Montacer scored after a scramble in front of the Nazareth goal following a corner kick at 32:39. Eric Harms, who assisted on the play, received a red card for violent conduct shortly after the goal and the Saints played the remainder of regulation with just ten players. Both teams went scoreless throughout that 55:00 span.
Sophomore Dustin Crooker made six saves in goal for St. Lawrence to record his fifth shutout of the season. Senior Brian Harder made eight saves for the Golden Flyers.
The Saints are now 12-0-2 overall.
BOGOSIAN SCORES TWO, SAINTS DOWN RPI 3-1
October 14 — Matt Bogosian scored two goals and Julian Daniels added a third as St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team completed an unbeaten Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association season with a 3-1 win at Rensselaer on Saturday.
While the Saints, now 11-0-2 overall and 5-0-2 in the conference, are unbeaten and gave up only one goal in seven conference games, they could still end up second in the final conference standings. Hamilton, which beat Skidmore on Friday 1-0, has only one loss and could pass the Saints on points for the league title and the automatic NCAA berth that goes with it even though the Continentals lost to the Saints.
Bogosian scored with the game just 3:32 old from Daniels and made it a 2-0 game 4:50 into the second half on a blistering shot which the RPI goalie did not have a chance on. Daniels completed the scoring at 60:30 from Howard Beckford and Scott Dulay while RPI scored its lone goal of the game 3:20 later on a shot by Tyler Benjamin.
Brendan Murphy had two saves for the win for the Saints while Marc Salmin had nine saves for RPI.
The Saints are 11-0-2 overall and stretched their unbeaten streak to 55 games with the victory.
SAINTS FINISH IN SCORELESS TIE WITH VASSAR
October 13 — Vassar College freshman goalie Paul Connors is credited with playing like a super hero, with a performance that delivered a 0-0 tie against the visiting Saints on Friday afternoon.
Connors stopped 15 Saint shots on goal and disrupted at least twice as many scoring attempts that came from six corner kicks, several indirect penalty kicks and a barrage of through passes. The Saints best chance for a goal came more than 52 minutes into regulation. A cross pass was popped for the apparent score but the far linesman stood with his flag raised in the air indicating offsides. In all, the Saints (10-0-2 overall, 5-0-2 UCAA) committed six of these infractions.
Both teams managed only one shot on goal after the first 45 minutes of play, but St. Lawrence stepped up it's pressure. The Vassar (4-4-2, 2-3-1) defense responded time and again with help from Connors' heroic net minding effort.
The Saints keep their 54-game unbeaten streak in tact, with the last loss occuring in 1997. Additionally, the Saints have not lost to a UCAA opponent since a 1996 defeat by Rensselaer. The Saints will face the Red Hawks Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
SMITH'S FIRST GOAL OF THE YEAR BEATS CLARKSON
October 6 — Carlos Smith's first goal of the year with 5:07 to play in regulation time lifted St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team to a 1-0 win over arch-rival Clarkson in an Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association game in Potsdam Friday afternoon.
Smith converted from Shawn Watson at the 84:53 mark to lift the Saints to 10-0-1 on the season and 4-0-1 in the UCAA. The Saints have a half-game lead on idle Skidmore in the UCAA race. The win stretches the Saint unbeaten streak to 53 in a row and 27 in a row in conference play dating back to 1996.
The winning goal came off a deep throw in as Rasool Alizajeh threw the ball into the middle, Watson headed it and Smith chipped the ball over Clarkson goalie John Hall.
"It was a good play all the way around," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "We've been having trouble finishing plays off, but we finished that one the right way."
St. Lawrence outshot Clarkson 20-7 with Brendan Murphy making four saves while John Hall of Clarkson had 11 stops. The Saints had five corner kicks to one for the Golden Knights.
TRZPIS LIFTS SAINTS TO 1-0 WIN OVER LEMOYNE
October 3 — St. Lawrence University freshman Tomasz Trzpis scored his second collegiate goal with 21:42 to go in regulation time to lift the Saints to a 1-0 college soccer victory over LeMoyne Tuesday afternoon.
The Saints, who dropped to third in the most recent Division III soccer polls, are 9-0-1 this season and improved their unbeaten streak to 52 straight games. The Saint streak is the best among all divisions in either men's or women's NCAA soccer. LeMoyne dropped its third straight game and is now 5-3-1.
Trzpis took a cross from junior Carlos Smith, and beat LeMoyne goalkeeper Craig Palleschi with a shot to the upper right corner at 68:18.
Palleschi kept the Dolphins in the contest with 15 saves in the game as the Saints had a 31-8 edge in shots on goal.
"I was very pleased with the job we did defensively," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "LeMoyne is a very good club, and while they were able to get the ball down into our end, our defense limited their scoring chances." Saint goalie Dustin Crooker recorded his third shutout of the season with three saves.
The Saints will play at Clarkson at 4 p.m. Friday in a game between North Country arch-rivals.
DANIELS SCORES ONE, SETS UP TWO IN SAINT ROMP
September 30 — Freshman Julian Daniels came off the bench to score one goal and set up two others as St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team bounced back from a 0-0 tie with Skidmore on Friday to blast Union 6-0 in a Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association soccer game Saturday afternoon.
The win stretches the Saint unbeaten streak to 51 games and improves SLU to 8-0-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the UCAA this season. The six goal explosion was the most prolific day of the season for the Saints, and it could have been more as three Union goaltenders combined for 15 saves and the Saints had several golden opportunities which went just wide.
"We'd have loved to have just one of those goals yesterday, but sometimes that's the way it goes," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "The guys came out strong and we jumped on them early. We were able to give a lot of guys playing time, and some of the younger players responded with excellent games."
Sean Watson took a cross from Ryan Burdick 26:39 into the game and scored his first goal of the season as he beat Union goalie Matt Lombardo to the center of the net. Jon Michael Olmstead made it a 2-0 game just over two minutes later when he took a feed from Daniels to score his second of the year and it was 3-0 at the half when Daniels tucked his second collegiate goal just inside the right post from Ali Montacer.
The Saints added three more goals in the first 16 minutes of the second half as Howard Beckford scored his fifth of the season on a breakaway pass from Eric Harms at 50:37; Rasool Alizadeh scored his first Saint goal from Daniels on a shot to the right corner at 55:58 and freshman Tomasz Trzpis scored his first collegiate goal from Matt Kokoszka with a volley shot at 60:44.
Dustin Crooker played the first half in goal for the Saints and had three saves while Jordan James played the second half and had two saves as the two Saint goalies shared the shutout.
The Saints outshot Union 39-5 and had six corner kicks to none for the Dutchmen.
SAINTS CAN'T PUT ONE PAST SKIDMORE GOALIE SETTLE FOR 0-0 TIE IN UCAA SOCCER SHOWDOWN
September 29 — The battle for the top spot in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association men's soccer race is still undecided as St. Lawrence University and Skidmore College battled to a scoreless tie through two overtime periods Friday.
The tie ended St. Lawrence's regular season win streak at 40 games, but the Saints' unbeaten streak goes on and is now at 50. The last time the Saints tied a game was in the NCAA tournament against Williams two seasons ago and Williams advanced on penalty kicks. The last regular season tie came in the 1997 season.
The Saints, 7-0-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the UCAA share the league lead with Skidmore, now 5-0-1 and 2-0-1.
The Saints outshot Skidmore 35-5 and had eight corner kicks to one for the Thoroughbreds, but Skidmore goalie Jimmy Larkin came up with eight saves to keep the game scoreless while Saint sophomore Dustin Crooker had five stops for his shutout.
"It was a pretty good soccer game," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "We certainly had our chances to score, but just couldn't put one in. I was pleased with the job we did defensively, and Dustin made some big plays for us in the goal."
The Saints host Union at 2 p.m. Saturday while Skidmore plays at Clarkson.
BECKFORD'S TWO GOALS POWER SAINTS PAST ITHACA
September 23 — Howard Beckford came through with a pair of goals just 2:39 apart Saturday afternoon and St. Lawrence University maintained its win streak with a 2-1 college soccer win at Ithaca College.
Beckford, who scored the overtime winner at Elmira on Friday, scored his third and fourth goals of the season, both in the second half as the nationally top-ranked Saints improved to 7-0-0 this season.
The Saints will put a 49-game unbeaten streak and a 40-game regular season win streak on the line Friday when they host Skidmore, 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the UCAA, a team which has outscored its opposition 22-1.
The Saints and Ithaca battled through a scoreless first half, but SLU put things together in the second half and took a 2-0 lead. The Bombers scored their only goal of the game with just a minute to play.
"It was a real good second half for us," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "Dustin Crooker did an outstanding job in goal, and Howard came through again at the other end. We were able to give a lot of people some playing time, and that was another positive in the game."
Beckford took a feed from Jamal Ballantyne to score the game's first goal at 54:04. He then scored from Ballantyne and Andy Harms at 56:43 to make it a 2-0 game and Crooker took a shutout into the final 1:51 of the game before Mike DiNuzzo scored Ithaca's lone goal. Crooker had two saves for the Saints while Ithaca's Glenn Palmieri had 10 saves for the Bombers, now 3-1-1 overall.
BECKFORD'S GOAL LIFTS SAINTS PAST ELMIRA IN OT
September 22 — Senior Howard Beckford scored his second goal of the season off a feed from Jamal Ballantyne 9:54 into overtime to lift St. Lawrence to a 2-1 win over Elmira College Friday afternoon.
The Saints, who maintained their unbeaten streak at 48 games and pushed their regular season win streak to 39 games, received a scare from Elmira, but tied the game with just 6:10 to go in regulation time when Ali Montacer headed in a cross from Jon-Michael Olmstead to knot the game at 1-1. Beckford then ended it when Ballantyne pushed the ball past a defender on a pass and the Saint senior put the ball away to improve the Saints to 6-0-0 this season.
Elmira, now 3-2, opened the scoring when Brian Griffin chipped a ball past Saint starter Brendan Murphy with the game just 55 seconds old after a restart following a Saint foul. It was the first goal the Saints had allowed this season and ended a scoreless streak of 805:03 going back to last season's NCAA regional final.
"I never thought we were going to score," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "They must have had at least six instances in which we had the goalie beat, an empty net and then someone came out of nowhere and took the ball off the line or put their chest in front of it."
The Saints outshot Elmira 14-2 with Murphy making one save in the first half and Dustin Crooker one in the second half. SLU had 12 cornerkicks to three for the Soaring Eagles. The Saints will play at Ithaca Saturday afternoon.
BOGOSIAN'S LAST MINUTE GOAL
September 16 — With just 1:25 left to play in regulation on Saturday afternoon, Saint midfielder Matt Bogosian fired a shot from the top of the penalty box that beat Hamilton goalie Doug Bellard to the right corner of the goal and gave the Saints a 1-0 victory over the Continentals. The win improves the Saints record to 5-0-0 and extends their unbeaten streak to 47 games.
The game was evenly contested for the majority of regulation. Hamilton's Ernesto Kwarteng had two legitimate opportunities to score with under a minute to go, but Saint goalie Brendan Murphy came up big by stopping both shots to earn the shutout.
The Saints outshot the Continentals 8-2 and held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks. Hamilton falls to 1-1-1 with the loss.
SAINTS DOWN HOBART 2-0 TO EXTEND STREAK TO 46
September 15 — The defending national champion Saints soccer team extended their undefeated streak to 46 games with a 2-0 shutout over Hobart (1-5-0, 0-1-0 UCAA). St. Lawrence outshot the Statesmen 25 to six in the game, battering Hobart goalie Cory Rosier with 16 shots in the first half. Allan Maragh led the attack, notching a first-half goal and assisting on the other.
Maragh opened the scoring for St. Lawrence, blasting a direct kick from just outside the 18-yard line into the back of the net. Eric Harms added the Saints second goal of the game at 56:57 by corralling a cross from Maragh and burying it into the net. The two goals proved to be more than the Saint's would need as they extended their shutout streak to 714:09. Goalkeeper Brendan Murphy was unchallenged in the game as Hobart managed just six shots, none of which were on net.
With the win, St. Lawrence improves to 4-0-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the UCAA. The Saints next play at Hamilton on Saturday, September 16 at 2:00.
SAINTS TOP POTSDAM 3-0 TO CONTINUE STRING
September 9 — St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team received goals from three different players and goaltenders Brendan Murphy and Dustin Crooker combined for the shutout as the Saints downed North Country rival Potsdam 3-0 Saturday afternoon to maintain a perfect start to the season.
The Saints, who have not allowed a goal since the six minute mark of last season's NCAA Regional final, posted their third straight shutout to open this season. St. Lawrence has now gone 624:09 without allowing a goal since that 4-1 win over Plattsburgh last November. The Saints are 3-0 this season and improved their unbeaten streak to 45 straight games.
Jon-Michael Olmstead opened the scoring with his first goal of the year at 12:11 of the opening half as he took a short cross from Howard Beckford and put the ball past Potsdam goaltender Scott Lambert.
Lambert, who had nine saves for the 1-2 Bears, kept Potsdam close, but the Saints blew it open in the final 20 minutes. Eric Harms scored his first of the year from Jamal Ballantyne at 70:51 as he put a shot into the upper left corner and freshman Julian Daniels scored his first collegiate goal from Carlos Smith at 86:16 to complete the scoring.
Murphy played the first half for the Saints and made one save on a shot from the top of the box while Crooker came on in the second half and protected the shutout with a pair of saves.
The Saints outshot Potsdam 27-5 and had eight corner kicks to one for the Bears. St. Lawrence will open league play at Hobart and Hamilton next Friday and Saturday.
BALLANTYNE CELEBRATES RETURN WITH A GOAL AND AN ASSIST IN WIN OVER CORTLAND September 6 — St. Lawrence University junior forward Jamal Ballantyne made his 2000 debut for the defending national champion Saint soccer team Wednesday afternoon and scored one goal and set up another while sophomore goaltender Dustin Crooker (right) made his collegiate debut a good onein a 3-0 win over Cortland State.
Ballantyne, who returned to campus earlier this week after playing for the St. Vincents and the Grenadines national team throughout the summer, scored the Saints second goal 18:39 into the game as he took a pass from Carlos Smith, sprinted past the Cortland defense and tucked the ball inside the far post. He set up the Saints' third goal just 2:07 into the second half when he sent a through pass ahead for Howard Beckford and Beckford beat the goalie to the ball and then tucked it into the wide open net.
"Jamal could have had another three assists…he made some great plays that we just didn't finish off. Getting him back is obviously a big boost, and his experience for the national team this summer will make him an even better player," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. The Saints, now 2-0 and winners of 24 straight games, pushed their unbeaten streak to 44 games with the win.
The Saints nearly scored twice in the first two minutes of the game as Ballantyne set up two plays in close, but Cortland goalie Tim Kelch stopped one and the other shot sailed just wide. Ali Montacer opened the scoring with his second goal of the year, scoring from Alan Maragh after a free kick at the 10:58 mark.
The Saints continued to dominate the game, which was the first collegiate start for Crooker. Crooker needed only one save, a sliding stop in the first half, to record the shutout.
"Dustin did a good job," said Durocher. "He got to a couple of crosses and showed a real strong leg on the goal kicks. We wanted to give him a shot because he has been working hard in practice and does some real good things. We'll probably split the Potsdam game Saturday with Dustin and Brendan Murphy and then see where we stand heading into the league games.
"It was a pretty good effort all the way around. We showed some improvement in some areas, and still have some things we want to work on in others."
The Saints will host Potsdam Saturday at 2 p.m. to complete a three-game season opening home stand.
MONTACER'S GOAL LIFTS SAINTS TO WIN OVER GENESEO
September 2 — Senior captain Ali Montacer scored on a penalty kick with 71:22 elapsed in the game to lift defending NCAA Division III men's soccer champion St. Lawrence to a 1-0 win over Geneseo in the Saint season opener Saturday afternoon.
The Saints have now won 23 straight games and maintained the nation's longest NCAA soccer unbeaten streak which is now 43 games without a loss. SLU will host Cortland State in its next outing on Wednesday.
St. Lawrence was without its normal group of starting forwards for the Geneseo game as All America Ryan Carruth and junior Scott Dulay are out with injuries and junior Jamal Ballantyne will not be back from a stint with the St. Vincents and the Grenadines national team until Tuesday.
"It was a good win for us, considering the guys we were missing," said coach Bob Durocher. "We played just about everyone in the first half, and got some good performances from our younger guys.
"We were solid defensively, and Jon-Michael Olmstead did an excellent job at midfield, both distributing the ball and playing defense. We were able to create some chances, although we would have liked to have done better on the restarts."
Neither team scored in the first half, although the Saints did have a great chance turned back when goalie Shannon Knudsen of Geneseo made a sliding save on a head shot by Rasool Alizadeh.
Brendan Murphy needed just one save to record the shutout as the Saints had a 9-1 edge in shots on goal with Knudsen finishing with eight saves. The Saints had four corner kicks to Geneseo's one.
SAINTS MEN'S SOCCER…OUT TO DEFEND THEIR CROWN
St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team, one of the dominant teams in the East since the mid-1990s and the best in the nation in 1999, will wear one big bulls eye on its back heading into the 2000 season.
The Saints were the first team in NCAA Division III history to run the table en route a national title last season, going 22-0-0. They have the nation's longest unbeaten streak for either men's or women's programs in the three NCAA divisions at 42 straight games and they return eight of 11 starters from last season's team including three-time All America Ali Montacer, a first team NSCAA national selection last season and Ryan Carruth, who was named a national second-team All America.
While the Saints ranked in the top ten nationally in Division III statistically in just one category, it was the one that counts the most…winning percentage. The Saints were 17th in goals against average, 30th in team offense and 23rd in team shutout percentage, but knew how to win games.
Saint coach Bob Durocher, the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 1999, is hoping that knowledge on the part of the returnees, plus some promising freshman talent, can keep the Saints on their roll. But, Durocher knows every team that steps on the field will be gunning for them, and that the Saints will need some luck to repeat.
"Any time you can go unbeaten in the sport of soccer, there's some luck involved," said Durocher. "The ball can do some funny things and great plays don't always end up in great results. We were fortunate last year in that we won some close games, avoided injuries and were able to create, and take advantage of, some breaks.
"We graduated a trio of excellent soccer players who played a major role in our success. We have some excellent players returning and have added some talented newcomers, but each year…each game…is a new challenge and one we will have to meet."
The Saints graduated Dan Annan, the NSCAA Division III Player of the Year, who had two goals and six assists last season and was a dominant force at midfield; Mike Berner, who played primarily at back, but came up and was an integral part of the offense with his height and jumping ability, scoring a goal in both the national semifinals and finals, and Nick Hillary, who was the leader of the backfield defense and earned second team NSCAA All America honors. They return six substitutes who played in the NCAA championship game in addition to the eight starters and have added a transfer from the University of Denver, Rasool Alizadeh, who should push for a starting spot.
While Ryan Carruth, a second-team All America and the leading scorer for the Saints with 13 goals and four assists, is coming off knee surgery, he should be ready to go when the Saints open the season Saturday, Sept. 2 against Geneseo in Canton. The Saints will not have junior Jamal Ballantyne, who had seven goals and 11 assists and was the catalyst for the offense with his speed on the wing, for the opener, but he should be back for the season's second game. Ballantyne is playing for the St. Vincents and the Grenadines National Team which has its final game on the Saints' opening weekend.
Scott Dulay also returns at forward after a nine goal, four assist sophomore season and Montacer had eight goals and three assists as a junior in addition to turning in outstanding defensive play in the middle. Other returning starters include back Tim Bealer, midfielder Allan Maragh, who had two goals and two assists last season, midfielder Ryan Burdick, who had a goal and four assists and goaltender Brendan Murphy, who posted a 0.67 goals against average and 12 shutouts as a sophomore.
Additional experience comes from a group of six players who saw action in at least 16 of the Saints 22 games last season. Juniors Carlos Smith, Allan Maragh, Eric Harms and Matt Bogosian played in all 22 games last season and combined for 11 goals while senior Howard Beckford has outstanding speed and had a goal and five assists off the bench last season. Sophomore Shawn Watson scored four goals and had an assist in 19 games while Jon-Michael Olmstead played in 16 of 22 games.
The Saints will also get an added boost from the return of Andre Webster and Vince Dalpiaz, both juniors, who battled injury throughout their sophomore year. Dalpiaz played in just six games last season, but one of them was the national semifinal against Alma in which he came off the bench to give the Saints some outstanding minutes at midfield.
In addition to Alizadeh, other newcomers who will push for playing time include freshmen Eric Bunyan from Manlius, Julian Daniels from Huntington, Thayer Nicolaus from Ross, CA and Tomasz Trzpis, the latest in the line of Saint soccer players from Brooklyn.
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