Men’s soccer split a pair of matches last weekend in the North Country of New York State, falling to the St. Lawrence University Saints 1-0 on Friday, Sept. 6 before rebounding to crush Clarkson University 7-0 on Saturday, Sept. 7. The matches were the first time this season that the YellowJackets had left Fauver Stadium, where they played and won their first two games of the season.
Against St. Lawrence, the twelfth-ranked ‘Jackets played to a scoreless draw for the first 71 minutes, allowing 10 shots, including one on goal. Despite the relative lack of offense from the Saints, it only took one shot in the 72nd minute for the home team to get the goal it needed to top the YellowJackets, who were only able to produce nine total shots, three of which were on goal. UR’s only real scoring chance of the day came in the 21st minute, when junior Shane Dobles broke away from the defense and had only the goalkeeper to beat, ultimately having his shot stopped by St. Lawrence’s netminder in what would be one of the critical plays of the day.
Any disappointment the ‘Jackets may have felt from Friday’s loss was clearly gone within 24 hours, as UR dominated Clarkson University right from the start on Saturday, scoring only four minutes into the game, when junior Keith Grafmeyer knocked a shot past the goalkeeper to give his team an early lead. The YellowJackets would add to their lead three more times in the first half with sophomore Jeffrey Fafinski and juniors Alex Swanger, and Jarvis D’Souza scoring in the 20th, 21st, and 25th minutes, respectively. In the second half, freshman Michael Cross added a pair of goals in the 46th and 50th minutes, followed by fellow freshman Zachary Kanaley, whose 65th minute goal rounded out the scoring for the ‘Jackets.
The weekend split leaves the YellowJackets at 3-1 on the season, but perhaps the more notable stat is the team’s goal differential, which stands at an incredibly high +18 through four games, an almost unheard of figure for so early in the season.
UR’s season continues on Saturday, September 14th, when the team will travel to Geneva, NY to take on Hobart College, who defeated the ‘Jackets 1-0 at Fauver Stadium last season.
Dobles broke away from the defense and had only the goalkeeper to beat, ultimately having his shot stopped in what would be one of the critical plays of the day.
Any disappointment the ‘Jackets may have felt from Friday’s loss was clearly gone within 24 hours. UR dominated Clarkson University right from the start on Saturday, scoring only four minutes into the game when junior Keith Grafmeyer knocked a shot past the goalkeeper to give his team an early lead. The YellowJackets would add to their lead three more times in the first half with sophomore Jeffrey Fafinski and juniors Alex Swanger and Jarvis D’Souza scoring in the 20th, 21st, and 25th minutes, respectively. In the second half, freshman Michael Cross added a pair of goals in the 46th and 50th minutes, followed by fellow freshman Zachary Kanaley whose 65th minute goal rounded out the scoring for the ‘Jackets.
UR’s season continues Saturday, Sept. 14, when the team will travel to Geneva to take on Hobart College, which defeated the ‘Jackets 1-0 at Fauver Stadium last season.
Shapiro is a member of the class of 2016.
