Saratoga Springs, NY – An early goal was not enough as the Clarkson University Men's Soccer team was edged by the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds 2-1 on Friday evening.

The Golden Knights (2-9-0, 0-4 Liberty League) will stay on the road next weekend as they travel to take on Bard College and Vassar College. The Thoroughbreds (8-4-2, 2-1-1 Liberty League) host RIT next Friday.

Getting on the board first, the Green and Gold capitalized on an opportunity in the 21st minute. Trevor Blackwell (Pittsford, NY) volleyed a ball into the net from 18 yards out to give the Knights the early 1-0 lead. Despite being outshot 12-3, Clarkson took the lead into half as the backline held strong.

The defense continued to shut down the Thoroughbreds for the first 20 minutes of the second half, but in the 65th minute Skidmore broke through. Andrew Blake found Brock Bakewell in the box, who beat Clarkson keeper Michael King (Verona, NJ) to tie the game at one a piece.

Bakewell struck again, this time in the 83rd minute, as Andrew Pertsov hit him with a pass from the left wing and he did the rest, scoring from six yards out to put Skidmore ahead for good. Bakewell attempted 11 shots on the night.

Clarkson had one final chance in the 87th minute, but Angelo DiFrancesco's (Penfield, NY) attempt went high of the net.

The Golden Knight defense did everything they could, as King recorded 10 saves, but Skidmore outshot Clarkson 33-6 on the night and did just enough to win a game that included six yellow cards and one red card.