COLETTA EARNS LIBERTY LEAGUE

DEFENSIVE PLAYER HONORS

Oct. 8: St. Lawrence junior keeper and captain Emilio Coletta earned Liberty League Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors for his exceptional performances against Union and Skidmore this past weekend.

The Montreal, Quebec native (left) had twelve saves over the weekend as the Saints went 1-0-1, which included a 2-0 shut out against #6 Union Friday afternoon and a 1-1 double overtime tie with the Skidmore Thoroughbreds on Saturday. Coletta posted a 0.45 goals against average and a .923 save percentage for the weekend.

This is the third time in the keeper’s career that he has earned Liberty League Defensive Performer of the Week. He was also a two-time Rookie of the Week during his first-year campaign.

“Emilio made eight great saves for us against Union,” Head Coach Bob Durocher said. “There were at least three shots that should have been goals, but [Emilio] was ready and able to keep the ball out of the net to ensure the win for us.” The shut out on Friday was his fourth for the 2007 season.

Coletta and the Saints will travel to Potsdam, NY Tuesday evening to play the Potsdam Bears in non-conference action at 7:00pm. The Saints will return to Sandy MacAllaster Field on Saturday to battle against Liberty League competitor and North Country foe Clarkson at 2:00pm.

(Photo by Tara Freeman)

SAINTS TIE SKIDMORE 1-1

IN DOUBLE OVERTIME

Oct. 6: After coming off a big win Friday night against #6 Union College, the St. Lawrence men’s soccer team tied Skidmore at Wachenheim Field in Saratoga Springs, NY in a rematch of the 2006 Liberty League Championship game on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints lone goal was off the foot of junior forward Paul LaMarca, after teammate Ryan Moore played the ball ahead of him after a one-two and got the ball to the Mesa, AZ native, who kicked it over Skidmore keeper Jake Densen’s head and into the top right corner. LaMarca’s fourth goal of the season gave the Saints a 1-0 lead at 21:11.

The Saints were able to maintain possession throughout much of the rest of the period, allowing only three shots, but Skidmore’s Park Dunn-Morrison used one of those to score on the Saints with only :32 left in the first half. Teammate Ernie Economides cut around a Saints defender and crossed the ball from the right side directly to a wide-open Dunn-Morrison, who fired past Saints keeper Emilio Coletta and hit the top left corner to even the score.

Both teams had chances in the second half, with St. Lawrence holding an 8-4 shot advantage, but Densen came through for the Thoroughbreds and had four saves in the period, which included two crucial stops from shots off the foot of Saint first year James Stewart in the last 12 minutes to keep the final score at 1-1.

The overtime period produced no scoring, but Skidmore came close on a shot by sophomore Kevin Regan at 91:49 that just went high and hit the cross bar, while Densen made another key save after Saint sophomore midfielder Yoon Sik Jung took a shot on the net at 99:55.

Seniors Axel Galeano and Mike Bobbie had a shot a piece in the second overtime, but Densen snuffed the Saints of their game-winning opportunity to insure a tied game.

The Saints out-shot the Thoroughbreds 22-12 and had an 11-5 shot-on-goal advantage. Skidmore had four corners compared to the Saints two, but neither team was able to use corners to their benefit. 
 
Coletta had four saves in the game, while Densen tallied ten for Skidmore.
 
The Saints, who are now 6-1-3 overall and 3-0-1 in the Liberty League, will face SUNY Potsdam in non-conference action on Tuesday evening at 7:00pm in Potsdam, NY.

SAINTS BLANK NATIONALLY-RANKED

UNION, 2-0

Oct. 5: A pair of first-half goals propelled the St. Lawrence University men’s soccer team to a 2-0 upset victory over Union College Friday afternoon in Liberty League action at College Park Field in Schenectady, NY. The Dutchmen are currently ranked sixth in the NSCAA/adidas national rankings and were tied for first in the Liberty League with the Saints prior to the contest.

Saints junior midfielder Ryan Moore returned to the field for St. Lawrence after being out due to illness for over a month and scored the first goal of the game as the Keene, NH native sent in a long shot from 35 yards out that crossed just out of reach of Dutchmen keeper Rob Kramer and into the extreme upper left of the net, giving the Saints a 1-0 lead. It was Moore’s first goal of the season.

The Saints took a 2-0 lead in the 33rd minute after junior midfielder Paul LaMarca took the ball at midfield and drove it down the flank. The Mesa, AZ native saw teammate Axel Galeano open and intended to play a long cross ball over the top, but the ball hit a Dutchmen defender, who played the ball high in the air back towards the keeper, where it sailed just under the crossbar and into the net.

The Saints only had four shots on goal throughout the game, compared to the Dutchmen’s eight. And while Union had six corner kick opportunities, they were not able to convert any of them into goals.

The Dutchmen out-shot the Saints 19-8 in the contest and peppered Saints keeper Emilio Coletta with eight shots on goal, but Coletta worked hard to preserve the shutout, which gave the Saints their fourth consecutive win and their third consecutive Liberty League win. The shutout was the Montreal, Quebec native’s fourth of the season.

The Saints, who are now 6-1-2 overall in the season and 3-0-0 in the conference, will play the Skidmore Thoroughbreds Saturday afternoon in Saratoga Springs, NY. The game is set to begin at 2:00pm.