SAINTS DEFEAT VASSAR, 1-0

St. Lawrence forward Ezequiel Rodrigo took a pass from back Steve Watson at 57.21 left in the second half and slipped the ball past both the Vassar defense and an outstretched goalie Matt Parker to propel St. Lawrence to a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Prentiss Field.

The game was not without its drama. Vassar came within inches of tying the game when midfielder Court Steiner hit a head shot by St. Lawrence goalkeeper Jordan James as time expired, however the ball bounced off the crossbar and over the goal.

The narrow miss was just last in the line of frustrating moments for Vassar. For nearly the entire game, they played evenly with the division-powerhouse Saints, but in the end were left with a loss.

Defensively, both teams played well, especially during the first half. There were few offensive drives, and neither team could gain much momentum. When they needed to, both goalkeepers were able to make big plays. Vassar goalie Matt Parker made a leaping one-handed block to rob forward Mark McIntire of a goal at 3:03 in the first half. Minutes later, James returned the favor by making a diving save of an Aldis Butler shot. In total, Parker had 13 saves and James had 7.

Said Rodrigo said of the goal, "I've been having good combinations with Steve. He passed it to me and I was able to chip it in between the two Vassar guys."

Until the Steiner shot, neither team had very many other scoring opportunities in the second half. Both teams employed effective defenses to dissolve the opposing offense.

St. Lawrence head coach Bob Durocher praised the work of both his team and the Brewers, "They came out playing hard. Vassar always plays us well. This was a well-played game. There was a lot of excitement there at the end."

The loss to St. Lawrence was Vassar's third consecutive 1-0 loss. The Saints improve to 7-1 overall, 2-0 in the Liberty League. SLU will play Potsdam at home this Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.

SAINTS EDGE RPI, 1-0

Sept. 24: Steve Watson scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season in the 50th minute off a setup by Evan Schutt and it turned into his second game winner of the year in a 1-0 win at Rensselaer in the Liberty League opener for both teams.

Jordan James made four saves to protect the lead for the Saints, earning his second shutout of the season. RPI goaltender Nick Bochette made 10 saves for the Engineers, who sustained their first loss of the season.

The Saints, who played RPI to a scoreless tie in their last meeting in Troy, improved to 6-1-0 overall and got off to a 1-0 Liberty League start. The Sants are 11-2-1 in conference regular season play over the last two seasons and have won back-to-back conference tournament championships. RPI is 3-1-3 and 0-1.

The Saints will play at Vassar tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.