ALBANY, N.Y. - The College of Saint Rose opened the Northeast-10 Conference portion of its 2019 slate in resounding fashion with tonight's 4-0 triumph against visiting Southern Connecticut State. It marked the Golden Knights first win against the Owls in a series that spans 21 meetings dating back to the 2000 campaign.
Saint Rose (5-1-0/1-0-0 NE10), ranked #7 in this week's United Soccer Coaches East Region Poll, scored twice in each half and manufactured a 16-10 shot advantage throughout the evening.
"This was a big win for our program and a great way to start off conference play. Southern Connecticut State is a storied program with a legendary coach, so to win tonight was just a positive step in the right direction. We need to continue to get better and there is still a lot of room for growth for our young team," said head coach Join Ciano.
Junior midfielder Oskar Aaströem scored a pair of goals and freshman forward
Hilmar Halldorsson accounted for the game-winner with his team leading third strike of the season. He also set up Aaströem's first goal. Sophomore midfielder
Simari Smith recorded the other goal, while sophomore keeper
Ryan Henning recorded six saves.
Halldorsson one-timed a redirected ball at the 21:21 mark and then delivered a quick cross from the right flank that Aaströem headed home eight minutes later. Smith made it 3-0 with 79:57 elapsed when he deked a defender and dribbled deep toward the right sideline before lining a low shot that sneaked inside the far post. A minute after that, sophomore midfielder
Harry SÖederlind sprung Aaströem on the left side who subsequently deposited his shot to the far side from just inside the area.
Looking ahead, both sides have 4:00 pm road conference matches Saturday. The Golden Knights head to Rindge, N.H. to take on Franklin Pierce, while the Owls travel to North Easton, Mass. to face Stonehill.
Notes: Tonight marked the squad's second clean sheet of the season…The Golden Knights also blanked New York Tech, 1-0 in the season opener (9/5/19)…Saint Rose is second in the NE10 with a 0.81 team goals-against-average.
Pediatric Cancer/Best Buddies Awareness Night: The Golden Knights teamed with the Saint Rose Love Your Melon Campus Crew and Best Buddies International this evening. LYM has a mission of improving the lives of kids battling cancer and bringing awareness to pediatric cancer. Best Buddies International is the world's largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical, and economic isolation of the 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Sign up for our E-Newsletter for the latest news by
clicking here, and for information on the Golden Knights Club,
click here. Follow us on
Twitter,
Facebook, and
Instagram.
