SAINTS BLANK ELMIRA COLLEGE, 5-0

Sept. 15: The chilly fall air in Canton, NY had no effect on the St. Lawrence University women’s soccer team Saturday afternoon, as they defeated Elmira College 5-0 on Sandy MacAllaster Field. This is the first time since 2003 that the Saints have finished three weeks of the season with a 5-1-0 record.

St. Lawrence started out in control of the game and was reluctant to give up that control to the Soaring Eagles for much of the first half. Sophomore Lauren Annaldo took a pass inside from first year Kaitlyn Fahsel in the 24th minute, and then calmly in-stepped the ball to the left side and got it past Elmira defender Meaghan Doherty to put the Saints on the board with a 1-0 lead.

Fahsel was back near the goal five minutes later and drove the ball to the net after getting it from sophomore Rachelle Doucette and took a shot, which was stopped by Doherty. But the Watertown, NY native got her own rebound and buried it into the back of the net to give put the Saints at 2-0 against the Soaring Eagles.

The last three goals for the Saints were scored within the next ten minutes. First-year Emily Buckley-Matura scored the third and fourth goals for the Saints, and was assisted by first year Katie Oram on both goals. Buckley-Matura, who is from Brooklyn, NY got a through ball from Oram and was able to beat her defender with pace and finished past the keeper, to give the Saints a 3-0 lead and give Buckley-Matura her first collegiate goal.

Her fourth goal was nearly identical to the third, as a speedy Buckley-Matura streaked down the line from another through ball from Oram, a Melvin Village, NH native, and made no mistakes as she netted her second goal of the game, bringing the score to 4-0.

The fifth goal was scored in the 39th minute, when sophomore Stanzi McGlynn got the ball off a set piece and distributed it to junior Lauren Sischo, who put the ball between the posts to bring the score to 5-0 in favor of the Saints. The goal was Sischo’s fifth of the season.

The second half saw much action near the net, but both teams were unable to get anything past the keepers and remained scoreless for the last 55 minutes of play, leaving the final score at 5-0, giving St. Lawrence the win.

St. Lawrence out-shot the Soaring Eagles 31-6 in the game, only allowing four shots on Saints keeper Hayleigh Hochberg. The Croton, NY native, who is now 5-1-0 in goal, had her third shutout of her collegiate career and made some great saves in the second half to keep Elmira scoreless.

St. Lawrence will hit the road next weekend to begin conference play against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Friday afternoon and Vassar College on Saturday. The Friday contest is set to begin at 4:00pm, while Saturday’s game will start at 2:00pm.