Canton, NY – James Homan proved to be the hero for the Clarkson University Men's Soccer team on Wednesday night, as the senior knocked in the lone score in the 89th minute of the Golden Knights' 1-0 win over SUNY Canton.

The Golden Knights improved to 6-1-0 on the season while Canton dropped to 2-4-2. Clarkson will hit the road on Saturday as it opens the Liberty League season at Ithaca College.

Throughout the majority of Wednesday's game, SUNY Canton seemed content to simply clear the ball or keep the Clarkson offense wide, hoping that the Golden Knights would make a mistake for their speedy forwards to take a chance at the other end. Clarkson stayed disciplined throughout, making solid passes in the midfield and creating plenty of chances, but most of the Knights' opportunities either went wide or dribbled out of bounds before a cross could occur. Clarkson's best chance in the first half came in the final five minutes when freshman Evan Yeigh's header went just wide. Canton's first half offense consisted of a quick burst of action between the 11th and 15th minutes where the Kangaroos produced a pair of corner kicks and a shot about 10 feet over the crossbar.

The formula appeared to be the same in the second half as Clarkson saw numerous runs nullified by a Canton defense that kept most of the action on the wings while pinching the middle and clearing chances. Mouhammad Thiam was called upon to make some key saves in the second half for the Kangaroos and the game seemed almost destined for overtime.

Fortunately for the Knights, luck was on their side when skill failed them. After possessing the ball for most of the game, the contest's game-winner came on a scrum in front. Freshman Nate Liscum was about 20 yards up from the end line and sent a throw-in from the sideline all the way into the box in front. The ball bounded around in front of the Canton net just a few yards away from the goal line for several seconds before Homan finally knocked it in with just 1:09 remaining in the game.

Clarkson finished with an 18-4 edge in shots and a 13-2 advantage in corner kicks. Riley McDonald hauled in a few crosses but was never called upon to make a true save in the game for Clarkson. Thiam made four stops in goal for Canton.