Clarkson women's soccer team scores 3-1 win over crosstown rival SUNY Potsdam

POTSDAM -- Junior Alix Petitti (Amsterdam, NY) scored a pair of second half goals to lift the Clarkson University Women’s Soccer team to a 3-1 non-conference victory over crosstown rival Potsdam State Thursday afternoon at Clarkson Field.

The Golden Knights evened their record at 2-2-0 overall, and Clarkson will face Hilbert College on Saturday afternoon in Hamburg, NY. Potsdam lost its first game of the season, falling to 3-1 overall.

Both teams had their chances in the early going, narrowly missing the frame on each end. However, it was Clarkson that would get on the scoreboard first, tallying in the 27th minute. Junior Alyssa Dausman (Syracuse, NY) sent a corner kick near the box that was deflected slightly, but eventually it found the foot of freshman Marissa Cook (Chateaugay, NY). Cook then noticed Linde Zajac (Cicero, NY) just a few feet away, and the sophomore buried the shot to give Clarkson a 1-0 edge.

Potsdam tried several long balls to utilize Courtney Poirier’s speed up front early on, but none of the attempts worked until late in the half. Poirier outran the Clarkson defense with a quick kick up front and maneuvered into the penalty area. From there, she sent a cross to Heather Johnson, who had a one-on-one with Clarkson goalkeeper Stephanie Collins (Colton, NY), and Johnson was able to finish the play off in the 38th minute.

The Knights took little time regaining the lead after the halftime break, scoring just 1:22 into the half. Dausman once again sent a corner kick into the box, but Potsdam goalkeeper Kim Callahan misjudged the pass and it cleared her head. At that point, the ball was grounded by Ariana Czech (Big Bear City, CA), but the senior slipped on the wet grass and the play seemed dead. However, Czech clipped the ball forward while lying on her back, and Alix Petitti was able to finish the play off in front of a wide open net.

Fifteen minutes later, the Knights again cashed in on a corner kick chance as Dausman sent a soaring pass in front. The ball found the top of Petitti’s head and she redirected the pass into the center of the goal, over the outstretched hands of Potsdam’s Callahan.

Despite being outshot 18-8 in the contest, Potsdam (3-1) had several chances to score throughout the game, with senior Cortney Poirier (Moira,N.Y.) and sophomore Heather Johnson (Heuvelton, N.Y.) leading the attack.

“I think we had more chances to score in this game than in the three games we played before, but we didn’t find the back of the net.” Potsdam coach Tim Moody said. “We played well and created chances, but some days you win and some days you don’t. Today we didn’t win. I give credit to Clarkson.”

The Bears evened the score in the 38th minute when Poirier took a long ball on the right side, fought off a defender and found sophomore Heather Johnson wide open in the middle of the box. Johnson sent the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net.

“That goal was pretty much an exact copy of the goal we scored against them last year,” Moody said. “Those are things that we work on and put into the games. We created a lot of good things we’ve been working on, but we just didn’t finish.”

Clarkson out shot the Bears, 18-8, and the Knights also held a 9-4 lead in corner kick chances. Collins made three saves for the Knights, while Callahan made eight saves for Potsdam.