POTSDAM, N.Y. --- The SUNY Potsdam men's soccer team (2-3-1) was defeated by the Hobart College Statesmen (5-1-0) 1-0 on Wednesday night. Although the Bears defense prevented many scoring chances, they struggled to challenge Statesmen offensively. Senior midfielder Tristian Cornell Roberts (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) scored the first and only goal of the game. Sophomore
goalkeeper
Conor Callan (Piermont, N.Y./Tappan Zee) made seven saves for Potsdam.
Hobart found scoring opportunities early, challenging Callan three times in the early minutes, but the goalkeeper was able to smother each attempt. The Statesmen's continuous pressure eventually led to the lone goal of the contest. At 33:14, Roberts beat his defender and sent the ball just inside the right post. Junior midfielders Pete Critchlow (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) and Kyle Mangold (Short Hills, N.J./Millburn) each assisted on the goal. The same was true for the remainder of the half as Hobart continued to generate opportunities with aggression and took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
As in the first half, both defenses were alert and the offenses struggled to create opportunities to score. After a quiet contest for much of the half, Hobart nearly took a 2-0 lead with just under 17 minutes left in the game. Freshman midfielder Lucas Montero's (Fairfield, Conn/Fairfield Warde) free kick nearly saw the net, but Callan was able to deflect it with his body for his fifth save. With three minutes left, Callan was once again challenged as he blocked a header shot by senior midfielder Nate Cary (Milton, Vt./Rice Memorial). The save by Callan kept the Bears alive in the contest and gave them one more attempt to tie the game. Senior forward
Alejandro Callejas (Bayshore, N.Y./Brentwood) got one last opportunity for Potsdam with three minutes to go, but his shot was corralled by Hobart senior goalkeeper Brian Salazar (Revere, Mass./Buckingham Browne & Nichols) to secure the 1-0 victory for the Statesmen.
Salazar saved four shots for Hobart to earn the win and shutout
The Bears are back on the road Saturday as they travel to RPI to face the Engineers at 12 p.m.
