CANTON, N.Y. - A late goal in the first half was all the scoring needed on Saturday afternoon, as St. Lawrence defeated the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) men's soccer team 1-0 in their Liberty League opener on Saturday afternoon at Sandy MacAllaster Field.

Saints' senior captain Michael McDougald delivered the deciding blow with a free-kick goal at the end of the first half to secure the win. St. Lawrence improved to 3-2-2 overall and 1-0-0 in Liberty League play, while the Engineers fell to 3-2-2 and 0-1-0 in league action.

Both sides came out firing early, as RPI was also able to find offense in the opening 11 minutes with two wide shots of their own and a shot that was stopped by Saints goaltender Ben Woelfinger.

The teams would trade efforts in the opening 45 but the best look of the half came as the clock expired. Jeremy Ogango did well to push the ball into the RPI half for St. Lawrence with under a minute left. The play would eventually go to just outside the box where McDougald was fouled. Before the time ran out the official stopped the clock for the free kick that would end the half. The senior fired a missile to the upper 90 of the net to give the Saints the 1-0 lead.

In the second half, St. Lawrence put up multiple dangerous chances to no avail. RPI put on a late push to equalize the contest generating five shots, but Woelfinger had to make just one stop to earn his second consecutive clean sheet.

Woelfinger finished with five saves in the win, while Colin Such finished with three saves on four shots.

The teams were tied with 12 shot attempts, but RPI had a 5-4 edge in shots on goal.

The Engineers return to action on Wednesday, October 27 at 4 p.m. when they hit the road once more to play host to Oneonta.