Hannah Merriam scored three goals and added two assists to lead the St. Lawrence University women's soccer team to a 5-0 win over RIT on the Saints' Senior Day on Sandy MacAllaster Field on Saturday afternoon.

The weather was less than hospitable, with unrelenting rain and temperatures in the low 40s. But the dreary weather didn't dampen the spirits of the Saints, who posted a season-high goal total against a defense that had allowed an average of just one goal per game.

"The team came out very motivated today for a good reason," said head coach Franco Bari '98. "Our seniors, Lindsay Geier and Amy Reunert, have put their heart and soul into this program and we played for them. I am so proud of the team's collective effort today. We worked very hard in transition, defended with discipline and we were very composed in the final third."

Merriam scored the first three goals of the game, with the first coming with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Katie Stames sent a pass from the right side to Emily Wade at the top of the box, and Wade sent a hard low shot in on RIT goalkeeper Kelly Rogers. Rogers went to the ground to make the save but was unable to contain the rebound, and Merriam streaked in on the right side to bury the ball in the back of the net with her left foot.

RIT had a chance to tie the game late in the half, as Caitlyn Daly lifted a ball over a St. Lawrence wall on a direct kick and found Maxine Culhane, who kneed the ball up high, but it bounced off the crossbar and Kira Murphy cleared the ball for the Saints' defense to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard.

Merriam increased the lead to two goals less than a minute into the second half, as Stames got around a defender on the left side of the RIT box and centered a pass to Merriam, who fired the ball into the short side for her fifth goal of the season.

Merriam's third goal was a near mirror image of her second, with Stames centering the ball from the left side and Merriam finding the left side of the net with less than 10 minutes left in the second half.

Three and a half minutes later, Merriam had her back to the goal at the top of the box and fed Julia Hill, who blasted a 25-yard shot high out of the reach of Rogers for her second of the year.

Wade closed the scoring, as Merriam sent a corner kick into the box, where it landed in the mud and died, allowing Wade to stride in and hit a wide open net with a high shot for her seventh goal of the season.

The Saints outshot the Tigers 29-7 and earned six corner kicks while yielding only one.

Jackie Sovie made five saves to earn the shutout for the Saints, while Rogers made 15 saves for RIT.

The win moves the Saints (8-4-3, 3-3-1 Liberty League) into fourth place in the conference standings with just one league game left to play. RIT (7-7-1, 3-4-0) fell into a tie for fifth.

St. Lawrence closes the regular season with two games in Potsdam next week, facing SUNY Potsdam in a non-league game on Tuesday, then playing Clarkson in a Liberty League game on Saturday.