Potsdam, NY – With three goals in the final 25 minutes, the Clarkson University Women’s Soccer team started off the 2009 season with a win, taking a 3-2 victory over Castleton State in the annual North Country Classic on Saturday afternoon at Clarkson Field.
The Golden Knights moved to 1-0-0 on the season and will face Norwich University at 12:00 noon on Sunday, while Castleton (0-1-0) will play against St. Lawrence University at 2:00 pm.
It took both teams several minutes to get their feet about them, but after 10 minutes, both teams were able to get solid shots on goal. Midway through the half, the Spartans opened the scoring when they took advantage of a defensive miscommunication by the Knights as junior goaltender Alex Sullivan (Copenhagen, NY) came out of the net to try to squash the opportunity, but got their late. Junior Courtney Chadburn was able to calmly take a shot from about 10 yards out and hit a bounding grounder into the net at 19:39, with the assist going to Carisa Chadburn.
The Knights put a ton of pressure on the Spartans to start the second half, but only had one shot on goal to show for it during the cluster. Clarkson’s best chance came on a bouncing ball that eluded Castleton goalkeeper Ericka Davis and went over her head. Ariana Czech (Big Bear City, CA) looked to have a shot at the open goal, but a Spartan defender came into block the shot before it could go in. A few more productive crosses were cleared, including one that provided the Spartans with a counterattack just a minute later. On that offensive push, Castleton’s Kelly Gerkin was able to rip a shot from about 15 yards out into the side near the far post for the game’s second goal. The assist went to Courtney Chadburn at 53:46.
Clarkson finally got on the scoreboard right after a substitution by both teams. Following a throw in, a pass was sent towards the middle, but missed its target. Fortunately, the pass found the foot of sophomore Andrea Walsh (Underhill Center, VT), who slid into the pass and pushed the ball past the Spartans’ diving goalkeeper. The assist went to Walsh’s classmate Alyssa Dausman (Syracuse, NY).
With Castleton seemingly running out of steam, the Knights were able to tally the equalizer with just under 14 minutes remaining. Dausman sent a soaring corner kick into the box, and the pass found its way to the head of junior Ariana Czech, popping the ball back over the goalie’s head.
A near replay of the previous goal occurred just two minutes later when Dausman took a direct kick near the corner and again sent it into the box, this time to the far side. Andrea Walsh caught the pass clean off her head, and the ball snuck over the end line for Clarkson’s third score, which turned out to be the game-winner.
Alex Sullivan finished with three saves for the Knights, while her counterparts also combined for three saves. Ericka Davis made two saves in 72-plus minutes while Cady Kerin came in to make one save in the final 17 minutes for the Spartans. Castleton owned a 7-4 edge in corner kicks, but the Knights led in shots 10-6.