The men's soccer team played brilliantly on Friday night and posted a 2-0 victory over fifth-ranked St. Lawrence University at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Rochester used goals from Ben Cross and Nate Micklos plus a throughly dominating performance to hand the Saints their first loss of the season.
The Yellowjackets, who won all three matches in the first week (Alfred, Oswego, St. John Fisher), were ranked #14 in the first Division III poll of the season.
SLU was clearly the toughest foe and the Yellowjackets produced their most well-rounded performance of the season. The defense was strong, keyed by Mike Springer, Jeff White, Eric Meister, and Steve Maltzman.
Control was achieved in midfield, led by Cross, Jeremy Goice, Damien Hallatt, and Brian Tuohy. Gary Stom was a threat all evening long. He was denied three bonafide chances thanks to a series of acrobatic saves by SLU goalkeeper Jordan James.
The match was just over a minute old when a ball came to Stom at the top of the box. His rocket, ticketed for just under the bar, was punched over the bar for a corner kick by James. The corner was sent to the back post to Springer and his open header thudded against the crossbar.
Seven minutes later, Maltzman dummied the ball past a defender on right wing. He crossed it to a wide-open Stom in the area and Stom's right-footed blast for the low right corner was saved brilliantly by James.
Stom earned his revenge before the game was 20 minutes old. He dashed down right wing with the ball and lofted it near the top of the area. It came to Cross who flicked a header into the low left corner of the goal at 19:31.
The Saints pressed for an equalizer, looking to hit striker Steve Watson as a target man. They were especially dangerous in the offensive end thanks to long 'flip' throw-ins by Philip Koshi. Springer drew the assignment of Watson and marked him well.
A minute into the second half, James denied Stom again. The Yellowjacket forward burst down right wing and curled into the box with a teammate streaking down the middle. James came to the near post. When Stom hit the ball, it dipped sharply towards the net, rather than floating as a cross. James was able to back-pedal and punch it clear.
The Yellowjackets added a crucial insurance goal with just over 10 minutes to play. Stom saved a ball in the left corner and pushed it along the touchline to Matt Sulkin. He lofted it into the box where Micklos headed it into the low right corner.
Jack Burgasser made one save to pick up his first complete-game shutout.
Rochester hosts Clarkson at 3 pm on Saturday.
