CORTLAND, NY – Sammy Bothwell scored two goals, including the game-winning goal in the 54th minute, to lead nationally 24th-ranked St. Lawrence to a 2-1 victory over the nationally seventh-ranked Cortland men's soccer team on Wednesday evening on Holloway Field.
Cortland suffers its first loss of the season and drops to 4-1-0, while St. Lawrence improves to 4-0-1. The loss also ends Cortland's school-record run of 21 consecutive games without a defeat, spanning from the final 17 games of the 2025 season into the first four games of this season.
Diego Rivera scored the lone goal for the Red Dragons, his team-leading fourth goal of the season, and
Jordan Ott made three saves in goal for Cortland.
Bothwell scored his two goals on three shot attempts, and two shots on goal for the Saints. Goalkeeper Zach Amato made seven saves in goal for the victory, and Cam Moyers registered an assist for St. Lawrence.
Cortland had an early chance to score in the fifth minute, but Amato turned aside a shot from distance by
Jack Pachla (Grand Island), and the Saints were able to clear the danger on the ensuing corner kick.
St. Lawrence took the lead in the 13th minute on Bothwell's first goal of the game. Moyers made a feed from the midfield to Bothwell just outside the 18-yard area, and Bothwell cut inside and fired a right-footed strike into the bottom right corner of the net for the first goal conceded by Cortland in over 370 minutes to begin the season.
St. Lawrence carried the 1-0 lead into halftime, despite the Red Dragons holding a 5-3 edge in shots on target in the opening half.
Cortland knotted the score at 1-1 in the 53rd minute through Rivera. A long throw-in by
Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker) bounced through the penalty area, and a St. Lawrence defender attempted to clear the ball out of danger. However, Rivera stepped in front of the clearance and rocketed a shot into the roof of the goal to equalize.
The Saints needed just 80 seconds after Cortland's goal to re-take the lead. Bothwell won the ball outside the Cortland penalty area, cut inside, and this time fired low and into the bottom left corner of the goal for a 2-1 St. Lawrence advantage.
In the 78th minute, Amato made a leaping save on a shot from distance by Rivera to deflect the ball over the top of the crossbar, and Cortland could not capitalize on the corner kick.
The Red Dragons' final two opportunities came in the last five minutes, as
Iago Lopez (Ithaca) saw his headed shot bounce off the left post in the 86th minute, and
Dylan Pederson (Surrey, England/Reigate) flicked a header on goal that was saved by Amato in the 88th minute.
