ALBANY – The College of Saint scored early and continued to control the pace of play throughout the majority of the contest en route to a 1-0 victory against visiting Northeast-10 Conference rival American International this afternoon at Sullivan Field at the Plumeri Sports Complex. It proved a fitting outcome on a day when the complex was officially dedicated with various pregame ceremonies involving numerous visiting delegates.
Junior forward Nicola D'Errico provided the biggest on-field highlight when she finished what proved to the game-winner after she settled a pass from junior midfielder
Brittany Godin and drilled a shot from 20-yards that slid inside the left post.
The Golden Knights (8-0/6-0), who are ranked #1 for the second consecutive week according to the most recent
NSCAA/HendrickCars.com NCAA Division II Poll, did nothing to diminish their standing. They outshot the Yellow Jackets (5-3/3-3 NE-10) by a 20-3 margin and engineered several superlative opportunities that went for naught.
Junior midfielder
Kimberly Morton turned her defender near the end line and sent a feed to fellow junior midfielder
Christina Cuffari who one-timed a shot that American International keeper Kara Potts turned aside with a diving save in the 27th minute.
In the second stanza, Saint Rose kept the momentum in its favor and had several superlative chances late. Freshman midfielder
Sydney Bond rifled a shot from 12-yards out that Potts proved to be equal to with nine minutes remaining. In the final five minutes, Morton leaped for a header that sailed just wide right and senior midfielder
Amanda Deck had space at the top of the area, but her strike glided harmlessly over the crossbar.
Between the posts, senior keeper
Deanna Esposito recorded her fifth clean sheet of the year and ran her shutout streak to 274 minutes throughout the past three-plus contests. Meanwhile, Potts made six of her seven saves throughout the opening 45 minutes.
Up next, Saint Rose returns home Tuesday to host Queens College for a 5:30 pm non-conference date. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets have a 4:00 pm league match Wednesday at New Haven.
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