Junior Sam DeMello's first-half goal was all the nationally-ranked #1 St. Lawrence University men's soccer team would need as it defeated Liberty League opponent RIT by the score of 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at Sandy MacAllaster Field.

The Saints' undefeated record still holds as they improve to 14-0-0 overall and remains at the top the Liberty League standings with a 7-0-0 mark. RIT suffers its first league loss, falling to 5-1-1 with a 9-5-2 record on the season.The Saints clinched their second straight Liberty League regular season title and have a five-point lead in the standings with just one game to play.

St. Lawrence came out firing in the opening half, outshooting its opponent 11-2 and controlling the majority of play. DeMello opened the scoring at 26:42 as he knocked home his tenth goal of the season off a ball from classmate Brian Gilloran, his sixth assist of the season. The two made short back-and-forth passes around RIT defenders in the 18-yard-box and DeMello put the ball into the top right corner of the net to give the home team the 1-0 edge.

It was the only goal the Saints would need as the defense kept RIT off balance throughout most of the game. The Tigers' best chances to even up the score came in the second half. At 17:40, sophomore Tim Young's header attempt ricocheted off the crossbar. Then with 4:34 left in the game, freshman Danny Bloshkin knocked a ball over the Saints' defense to senior Dan Holowaty, who had a one-on-one with St. Lawrence senior goalkeeper Brian Abernethy. Holowaty's try went high and wide, and the Scarlet and Brown were able to run out the clock for the remainder of the half to celebrate the win.

Abernathy earned his 11th shutout of the season as he stopped the two shots he faced. RIT goaltender Sean Conway tallied nine saves but suffered the loss.

St. Lawrence owned the advantage in both shots (17-7) and corner kicks (8-1). Though the Tigers played fairly even in the second half, the Saints defense held the visitors to only three shots on goal the entire game.

The Scarlet and Brown will be back in action as they battle Plattsburgh State on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 4:00pm at Sandy MacAllaster Field.