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Mbong helps Saints complete unbeaten in men's soccer Liberty League season

Posted 10/30/10

Senior Emmanuel Mbong scored one goal and assisted on another as St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team completed an unbeaten Liberty League season with a 3-0 win over arch-rival Clarkson on …

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Mbong helps Saints complete unbeaten in men's soccer Liberty League season

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Senior Emmanuel Mbong scored one goal and assisted on another as St. Lawrence University's men's soccer team completed an unbeaten Liberty League season with a 3-0 win over arch-rival Clarkson on cold and damp Sandy MacAllaster Field Saturday afternoon.

The Saints finish the regular season with a 14-2-2 mark, their best win total since 2004 and will take a 14-game unbeaten streak into the Liberty League semifinals to be played at Sandy MacAllaster Field on Wednesday afternoon. SLU went 6-0-1 in Liberty League play

Clarkson, 6-7-2 overall and 1-6-0 in Liberty League play had some chances in the first half off a pair of corner kicks, but had difficulty getting the ball through to the goal as the Saint defense again came through with a big effort. SLU allowed only three shots on goal for the game and Clarkson had a total of just 10 shot attempts as the Saints controlled and possessed the ball through most of the game.

"The conditions were tough for both teams," said Saint coach Bob Durocher. "But I thought our guys handled them well and we were able to get some of our younger guys into the game and use some different combinations.

"I always found the Clarkson game tough when Willie (Steinrotter) was coaching because we are good friends...but it is even tougher now with Nick (Hillary) and Ian (Fairlie) coaching them," Hillary and Fairlie both played for Durocher. "Nick has done a great job with Clarkson, although today's score was not indicative of the way they have been playing. They kind of look like a mirror image of our team and they are going to keep getting better."

The Saints opened the scoring off a corner kick 24:59 into play as Mike Manfredi sent the ball into the goal mouth and sophomore Alex Laird headed it inside the far post for his fourth of the season. The goal followed a great chance by Adrian Bucksam, which resulted in a Severino Spagnolo save and led to the corner kick as Spagnolo had to knock the ball over the end line to prevent a goal.

A three-man break led to the second Saint goal just 1:34 into the second half as Mbong gathered in a pass and banged a shot off the far post. Dan Marvin was there to collect the rebound and put it into the net uncontested for his fifth goal of the year. Mbong then scored his second of the season at the 57:23 mark as sophomore Sam DeMello sent a perfect cross across the goal mouth and Mbong one-timed it into the net.

Spagnolo finished with 12 saves for the Golden Knights, who were outshot 27-10. Nate Goss-Woliner made three saves for the shutout for the Saints.

"This was another step for our guys. It has been a while since we ran the board in the league, and while we do have that tie at RPI, the guys know we actually scored and should be 7-0," said Durocher. "It is the way it is, but it has been a very tough year in the league in terms of separation from top to bottom so going unbeaten is a huge step.

"Now we have to get ready for Wednesday and the semifinals. We'll have Will Congdon back, and that will help, but we still will be without Brendan Gorman."

Congdon missed the Clarkson game after getting two yellow cards in the Hamilton game, while Gorman sustained a leg injury at Hamilton.

"Jimmy May did an excellent job of filling in at the back," said Durocher. "It is tough to sub backs because we have been in so many one-goal and overtime games, but Jimmy played very well today and we were able to get a lot of guys into the game."