SAINTS SUFFER LOSS TO HAMILTON

IN LIBERTY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP, 1-0

Nov. 3: The St. Lawrence University men’s soccer team was handed its third loss of the 2007 season and it’s second to Hamilton College after the Continentals scored the lone goal and the game-winner in the middle of the first period of the Liberty League tournament championship game. The win gives Hamilton an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Both teams have gone to each Liberty League Tournament since the league’s inception in 2004, but it is the first time since 2004 that the Continentals and the Saints have battled for the Liberty League title in the tournament. The two teams played for 110 minutes on St. Lawrence’s home turf without scoring. Hamilton took the title after a 4-3 edge in penalty kicks.

The only goal of the game came close to the 33rd minute of play, after St. Lawrence was fouled on the far side, giving Hamilton a restart. The ball was sent into the six, where there was a scramble for the ball with Saints keeper Emilio Coletta coming out of the goal to try and make the save. The ball came out and found Hamilton’s Topher Breedlove, who knocked the ball past Coletta’s reach and into the back corner of the net, giving the Continentals the lead at 31:57.

The first part of the game saw a strong Saints offense, where they were keeping the ball in Hamilton’s half of the field and consistently making attempts to get near the net. However, Hamilton’s defense was able to do a spectacular job of clearing the ball, forcing St. Lawrence to take shots from around the 18.

In what appeared to be a much more aggressive second half, St. Lawrence came out and put the pressure on, maintaining possession of the ball throughout most of the half creating a number of great opportunities, but Carello made a number of incredible saves to keep the Saints off the scoreboard. Four yellow cards were issued to players in the last 13 minutes of the game, two on each team.

First year midfielder James Stewart led the Saints with five shots, including a shot on goal in the 67 th minute that sailed just high of the crossbar. Junior forward Kiel Dwyer had three shots and two on goal, while senior back Mike Bobbie and junior midfielders Paul LaMarca and Ian Fairlie each took a shot on Carello.

The Saints, who finish the regular season with a 9-3-6 overall record, had a 21-11 shot advantage, with a number of shots were high or wide of the goal. They also held a 7-4 edge on shots on goal and a 6-5 on corners.

Coletta had three saves in the net for the Saints.

The Saints will await their post season fate as they hope for an NCAA tournament at-large bid. St. Lawrence has competed in the last nine NCAA tournaments. Selection brackets will be announced Monday morning at 11:00am by the NCAA Selection Committee.

SAINTS EARN SPOT IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AFTER WIN OVER HOBART, 1-0

Nov. 2: St. Lawrence senior forward Charlie Bogosian scored the lone goal of the game in the first Liberty League semifinal game against the Hobart Statesmen Friday afternoon, leading the Saints to a 1-0 victory, giving them a spot in the league championship game Saturday afternoon, where they will face the Hamilton Continentals.

The Saints, the first seed in the tournament, and the fourth-seeded Statesmen first played October 21 st, where, after a 110-minute battle between the two teams, both St. Lawrence and Hobart left the field scoreless.

But after nearly 77 minutes of play that very much resembled that evenly matched contest, Saints’ junior midfielder Ian Fairlie passed the ball into the box where it found the foot of Bogosian, who dribbled it in front of Hobart keeper Peter Van Dellon, who came out and tried to clear the ball.  The Manlius, NY native went around the keeper and tucked the game-winner into the back right corner of the net, scoring the only goal of the Hobart/St. Lawrence series this season.

The Saints were a man down after Bogosian received a red card with 3:23 remaining in the game, but were able to use their strong defense to keep the ball from Hobart and prevent any scoring chances in the last few moments of the game.

While St. Lawrence out shot Hobart 19-12 and 7-6 in shots on goal, the Statesmen played a strong game and split possession of the ball with the Saints throughout the majority of the 90-minute game. Hobart held an edge in corner kick opportunities, 7-4, but both teams were unable to convert.

Both Van Dellon and Saints keeper Emilio Coletta had six saves in the net. It is Coletta’s eighth shut out of the season.

The Saints, now 9-2-6 overall, will face Hamilton in the title game. The Continentals (8-4-3), the second seed in the tournament, beat third-seed Union College 2-1 in another close match. St. Lawrence and Hamilton met earlier in the season on October 20 th, where the Continentals upset the Saints on their home turf in a 2-1 overtime win. The winner of the game will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The game is set to begin at 12:00pm on Saturday and will be played on Sandy MacAllaster Field.