The St. Lawrence University women's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with Bard College on Saturday afternoon at Sandy MacAllaster Field. Though St. Lawrence piled up a 21-5 advantage in shots in the contest, they were unable to score the winning goal late in the contest.

St. Lawrence (7-4-3, 1-4-1) needed a victory on Saturday to keep its postseason hopes alive. Meanwhile, Bard, who used its first goal of the conference season to earn the draw, moves to 4-10-2 (0-6-1).

"I was actually impressed with our composure in possession and moving the ball to create dangerous opportunities," said St. Lawrence head coach Franco Bari. "While we did generate several goal-scoring chances, we just didn't finish well today."

The Saints got off to a fast start, earning several quality chances on Bard keeper Kelsey O'Brien in the opening minutes. A long outlet pass to Mackenzie Collins sent the St. Lawrence junior up the sideline, and she fired a beautiful cross through the box past O'Brien to senior Erika Gobeille. Gobeille showed her poise, settling the ball first and then tapping it into the net for her second goal of the season only 5:03 into the first half.

St. Lawrence outshot Bard 9-1 in the first half, but O'Brien made four crucial saves to keep her team in the game. Collins failed to score on a one-on-one with the keeper, and several Saints' bids missed wide of the cage.

Despite struggling to get on track, the Raptors would capitalize on their one scoring try late in the half. Maddy Huggins sent her team's lone corner of the half into the box, and though several Saints had a chance to clear the ball, Gina Lewis steadied it, turned and scored on St. Lawrence's Kelsey West to tie the score at 1-1. The tying goal came at 41:57 of the first half.

St. Lawrence would continue to rack up chances in the second half, but missed opportunities would be costly, as shots missed wide or were handled by keeper Lily Harris, who replaced O'Brien after intermission due to injury. Senior Julia Friesen had the closest call in the 60th minute, as she faked a defender in the box to earn space, and though her shot eluded Harris, it hooked wide of the far post.

Emily DePoy, Nyssa LaClair, Friesen, Collins and Gobeille all had scoring chances late in the second half or in overtime for the home team, but none were able to convert. Bard played sound defense, anchored by Neena Marano, who made a defensive save off a St. Lawrence corner in overtime to help preserve the win and earn the team's first conference point of the season.

O'Brien closed with a game-high four saves in the first half, while Harris made one save for the Raptors. West closed with two saves for the Saints, who finished with a 7-1 edge in corner kicks in the game.

St. Lawrence will be in action again next Saturday, October 26, when it travels to Saratoga Springs, NY to take on nationally-ranked No. 16 Skidmore College. Bard will face Purchase College on October 24.