No. 11 HERONS EDGE SAINTS, 1-0

Sept. 27: In their second hard fought battle in less than a day, the St. Lawrence University women’s soccer team suffered their first loss of the season Saturday afternoon as nationally-ranked William Smith scored a late game goal to give the Herons a 1-0 edge over the Saints in Liberty League action on Sandy MacAllaster Field.

The Saints fall to 6-1-2 overall and 0-1-1 in the conference, while the No. 11 Herons improve to a 6-1-1 mark and leave their first weekend of Liberty League play undefeated as they stand at 2-0-0.

William Smith sophomore Brelynn Nasypany scored the game winner for the Herons in a repeat of last year’s contest, as the forward netted an unassisted game winner in the final seconds to earn a 1-0 victory over St. Lawrence in 2007.

In a game that was hard fought more in the middle of the field, St. Lawrence only tallied five shots in the contest, including two shots on goal, while William Smith had eight shots, three on goal.  Both teams were able to create scoring opportunities throughout the game but were unable to finish.  Saints’ junior forward Meg Howard (Shelburne, VT/Champlain Valley Union) found herself in Heron territory early on in the contest and made her way towards goal at the exact moment William Smith keeper Amanda Davis tried to clear the ball in front of the net.  The ball deflected off the keeper and to the foot of Howard, who eagerly raced with it towards goal but sent it just high of the crossbar.

The attempt gave the Saints a bit more confidence as the two teams battled for possession.  Nasypany had her own fair share of chances, as she received a cross from the far side in the 28th minute and beat several St. Lawrence defenders to charge down the middle of the 18 to go one-on-one with the home team’s keeper Abby van Geldern (Rowayton, CT/Brien McMahon), but the ball went wide to keep the teams knotted at a scoreless tie.
Early in the second half, Howard once again found herself up in front with Heron defenders and was able to outrun them to receive a long pass from deep inside the Saints’ defensive end, but the junior overran the ball as William Smith regained possession.

Nasypany’s goal didn’t come until the 79th minute, where the Herons put a ton of pressure on the tough St. Lawrence defense near the posts.  William Smith’s Katelyn Tyson centered a ball to traffic inside the six, where Nasypany was able to fake van Geldern and make a clear shot into a nearly open net to tally the Herons’ eventual game winner and put them up on the board at 1-0.

A St. Lawrence corner kick was one of the last second opportunities they Saints had to tie the game, but Davis made another incredible play and cleared the ball quickly before a Saint could get her foot on the ball to insure the win for the visiting team.

“I was extremely pleased with the team’s effort today,” Head Coach Franco Bari said following the game.  “It’s very challenging to play back-to-back games against nationally-ranked opponents.  However, the team worked hard through adverse situations.  The game of soccer comes down to capitalizing on opportunities; unfortunately we had one breakdown and William Smith was talented enough to take advantage of that chance.”

St. Lawrence will host North Country rival Clarkson on Thursday, October 2nd on Sandy MacAllaster Field.  The game is scheduled to begin at 4:00pm.