Men's Soccer | 9/18/2010 5:32:32 PM

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POTSDAM, NY – The RIT men's soccer team dropped thier second straight game with a 2-1 loss to Clarkson University on Saturday afternoon at Hantz Turf Field in Potsdam, New York.

The Tigers, ranked seventh in the New York Region, falls to 4-2-1 overall on the season, while the Golden Knights, ranked 10th in the New York Region, improve to 4-1-1 overall.

Though the teams were scoreless through the first 30 minutes of the game, both broke the ice within just a few moments of one another late in the half.

Clarkson got on the scoreboard first when Freshman Kurt Knolle corralled a pass from Justin White and made a quick move past his defender and sent a groundball to the far corner for his third goal of the year at 30:33.

However, RIT responded just 2 minutes, 20 seconds later as sophomore John Zito (Rochester, NY/East Rochester) launched a 30-yard pass over the Clarkson defense to junior Dan Holowaty (Strongsville, OH/St. Ignatius), who outraced the trailing defense to the goal and beat Clarkson goalkeeper Scott Stuart, allowing for an easy goal into the open net at 32:47.

In the second half, the Tigers controlled the play in the Clarkson end and had a few shots on goal, but all of them came straight at Stuart, who easily gathered in the ball at the goal line safely each time.

Despite the play mostly occurring in the midfield and Clarkson end, it was the Golden Knights who would come away with the victory. With just over 20 minutes remaining, Mark Secko controlled a pass, took one step and blasted a right-footed shot that danced into the top corner of the net from 35 yards away.

RIT would put pressure on the Knights in the waning moments, but other than an errant header, the chances were few as Clarkson held on for the win.

The Tigers owned a 12-5 advantage in shots and a 5-1 lead in corner kick opportunities. Stuart made five saves for the Knights, while RIT's Sean Conway (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) didn't make any saves for the Tigers.

The Tigers return to action on Wednesday, Septemeber 22 when they host SUNY Cortland in non-conference action. Kick-off at RIT is at 4 pm.