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#4 Herons edge Knights women's soccer 1-0

Posted 10/27/13

Geneva, NY – After giving the fourth-ranked team in the country everything they had, the Clarkson University Women's Soccer team was just edged by the #4 William Smith College Herons 1-0 on …

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#4 Herons edge Knights women's soccer 1-0

Posted

Geneva, NY – After giving the fourth-ranked team in the country everything they had, the Clarkson University Women's Soccer team was just edged by the #4 William Smith College Herons 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights fall to 5-11 (1-6 Liberty League) and wrap up their regular season schedule when they travel to take on rival St. Lawrence University next Saturday at 1:00 pm. William Smith improves to 13-1 (7-0 Liberty League) and finished the season with RIT next Saturday.

Entering the game, William Smith seemed unbeatable. Winners of 12 straight games, the Herons had outscored opponents 33-6 prior to Saturday's matchup, and have climbed to the fourth best team in the nation. None of this mattered this afternoon as the Knights gave them the biggest scare of the season since losing their opener.

Attempting the first shot on goal, Nikki Carfi (Liverpool, NY) took a chance but the ball was saved by William Smith goaltender Chelsea Dunay. The real story of the first half for Clarkson was the performance from the backline. The Herons attempted 10 shots in the first 45 minutes, and Clarkson goalkeeper Kim Kenline (Akron, NY) made three saves to keep William Smith off the scoreboard. Multiple other shots were blocked, and the Clarkson defense held strong.

In the 55th minute William Smith attempted a free kick and cashed in, as MaryClaire Pelletier took a shot into the top left corner of the net to give the Herons the 1-0 lead. That would be the only goal of the game for a team averaging over 2.5 goals per game coming into the afternoon.

Kenline would continue to be impressive in the net, stopping two more shots in the second half for a total of five in the game. In a game against a team with a very sound defense, the Clarkson backline stepped up their game and almost pulled a major upset over a top-5 team in the country.