CANTON, N.Y.—Sophomore defender Matthew Wagner (Bronxville, N.Y./Bronxville) knocked home a corner kick in the 19th minute and the SUNY Potsdam men's soccer team (6-1) made it stand up as the Bears upset eighth ranked St. Lawrence University (4-1-1) 1-0 on Tuesday afternoon. The victory was Potsdam's first over the Saints since Oct. 1, 2005 and it comes on the same day that the Bears were voted 10th in the NSCAA East Region Poll. SLU holds the top spot.

The Saints created the first strong scoring chance of the contest off a corner kick at 10:36, but Potsdam blocked two shots before SLU was whistled for an offsides to kill the pressure. Nearly eight minutes later, a Saints foul on Potsdam freshman midfielder Isaac Sanabria (Bedford, N.Y./Fox Lane) helped set up a Bears' corner. Senior captain Tom Benedetto (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) launched the ball in to the box and Wagner buried his second goal in as many games.

"When you get a goal it gives you so much more confidence," said Bears sixth year head coach Adam Parker. "Then our game plan was to stay very tight and compact defensively and be patient. They were going to have more of the ball whether we wanted it or not, so we just had to stay disciplined. Ten minutes after the goal it felt like we were going into a shell kind of like we did with Oneonta last year. Then we made a couple changes and throughout the rest of the half I felt we were a little more dangerous than even they were."

SLU head a slim 8-6 advantage in shots after 45 minutes and a 2-1 edge in corners.

"At halftime, we didn't really adjust too much," Parker said. "I told the guys that they were going to have to make adjustments. Part of soccer is that they have to figure it out in the game and on the field. SLU brought some new players in, but we kept our defensive shape really well and the guys just made plays. They stuck to the game plan perfectly, so I can't really say it was anything but good work today."

The Saints took nine shots in the second half, but only two reached SUNYAC and ECAC Upstate Defender of the Week Jesse Kohler (Middletown, N.Y./Tompkins-Cortland C.C.). Kohler made two huge saves to keep SLU off the board. Kohler made his biggest save of the day in the 64th minute as he shutdown a Ryan Roche attempt at the right side of the goal. With 11:55 to play, Saint Chris Schroeder hit the post after a corner kick. The Bears stifled St. Lawrence the rest of the way.

Kohler, who hasn't allowed a goal in his two seasons with Potsdam, finished with three critical saves. SLU's Ryan Roethel made one stop. The Saints outshot Potsdam 17-6 on the afternoon and had 10 corners to the Bears' one.

"It was just kind of a perfect day," Parker said. "The weather was great. The field was beautiful. Both team's played hard and it was a clean game. We've had seven games in 15 days and we're 6-1. Nobody really plays more than 45 to 60 minutes anywhere other than in back. Alex Griffith was out injured today and he's our only all-conference player. Guys have just stepped up. I really believe that guys that come in for five minutes and know that that might be their only five minutes have bought into 'alright that's my job right now'. It's just been awesome so far, but we've got to keep it going."

While there's a lot of work to do, Parker is pleased with the way his program and his players have developed so far.

"The whole team is made up of guys that have always just played to try and prove themselves," added Parker. "I can't say enough about their character, their focus and the way they present themselves. It has been great to see."

Potsdam heads to Troy on Saturday to face No. 13 R.P.I. at 4 p.m. The Bears are 1-4 in the all-time series with the Engineers. However, Potsdam won a 2-1 decision in Saratoga Springs on Sept. 14, 2013 in the teams' last meeting.