Knights suffer first defeat - SMC vs LeMoyne

from the burlingtonfreepress.com
This article appeared on the front page of The Burlington Free Press Sept 23, 2007 - accompanied by a great photo of Fraser Watson!

Knights suffer first defeat

By John A. Fantino
Free Press Staff Writer

September 23, 2007COLCHESTER -- The St. Michael's College men's soccer team was the superior side during the final 82 minutes of Saturday afternoon's Northeast-10 Conference clash with Le Moyne.

It wasn't enough to overcome the first eight minutes.

Le Moyne pumped in two early goals and weathered a purple onslaught, dealing St. Michael's its first defeat of the season with a 2-1 victory at wind-swept Duffy Field. "We gave up those first two goals early but the rest of the game we dominated the stats, possession, and a lot of good things happened," second-year SMC coach Wade Jean said. "Except for the result."

Ishii Yoshikazu connected on a free kick a minute prior to intermission and SMC poured into the offensive third throughout the second half, but the Knights were unable to catch a Le Moyne team (7-1-1 overall, 4-1-1 NE-10) that tops the conference standings.

St. Michael's (7-1-2 overall, 2-1-2 NE-10) hopes it's only speed bump in what has been the best start in program history.

A Purple Knights team that qualified for the conference playoffs for the first time a year ago and won in the quarterfinal round hasn't skipped a beat.

"We are trying to take the program to the next level," said SMC senior captain Matt Healy, "to where we are competing with teams like Le Moyne and Franklin Pierce and Southern Connecticut."

The Knights certainly were competing during the second half of Saturday's physical game, although it wasn't enough to dig out of the hole they sank in.

Brandon Morse's header put Le Moyne on the scoreboard 2 minutes, 55 seconds into the contest, a lead that swelled five minutes later with Sean Lawlor's point-blank rip to the left side of SMC goalkeeper Tim Williamson (two saves).

Yoshikazu cut the margin with 56 seconds remaining in the first half when the senior tucked a 19-yard direct kick inside the post for his team-leading fourth goal.

SMC created an 18-8 edge in shots and forced Le Moyne keeper Steve White to make six second-half saves.

The Knights' best chance at an equalizer came with 25:10 left, the product of junior back Fraser Watson intercepting a Le Moyne clearance and ringing a 25-yard shot off the crossbar.

"Le Moyne has been one of the top teams in the conference and we went at them today and tried to make something happen," Jean said. "In past years that might not have been the case down a couple goals in a game like this."

Contact John A. Fantino at 651-4851 or jfantino@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com