Hockey, basketball, and baseball are often considered games of inches, and after this weekend, the Rensselaer men’s soccer team would insist that it be added to the list.

The Red Hawks suffered their first loss of the season, as they came within fractions of those precious inches of tying and possibly beating nationally ranked St. Lawrence Friday at Harkness Field. RPI fell 1-0 to the Saints, but rebounded to destroy rival Clarkson 5-0 Saturday.

St. Lawrence’s Steve Watson scored the game’s only goal at the 50 minute mark, with a sizzling roller, narrowly beating RPI goalie Nick Bochette on the near side pole.

Watson brilliantly froze the defense by faking a crossing pass, before firing his rocket from a near impossible angle that squeezed in just below the arms of a sprawling Bochette.

The 15th ranked Saints proceeded to keep pressing the Red Hawks, forcing them to exhaust all their energy on defense. The game was extremely physical and that saw four yellow cards handed out, two for each team.

The first half was played almost entirely in the midfield with both teams managing to wield just five shots, but this quickly changed in the second session.

The Saints peppered Bochette with 14 second half shots, of which only one escaped his grasp, while Rensselaer launched only three.

Sal Mangano had both of the Red Hawks’ best scoring chances, which came under the 30 minute mark.

The freshman took a pass from Craig DiDomenico after outrunning his defender and delivering a strike that landed safely in Saints’ goaltender Jordan James’ chest, but that would not be Mangano’s most frustrating play of the night.

With the clock working against them, RPI pushed their midfielders up in an effort to attack the solid St. Lawrence defense. However, with 23 minutes left in the game Rensselaer looked to have finally found the hole.

After senior Nick Ruggio weaved his way through the defense he lofted a beautiful pass to Mangano who stood less than ten yards from the goal line. In an effort to avoid his previous mistake the youngster attempted to sky the ball over James, unfortunately he tried a little too hard.

Mangano sailed the ball over James and the net by a few centimeters and left the RPI bench and crowd in dismay.

Battered and beaten, Rensselaer struggled to mount any serious offensive threat, failing to even put another shot on goal in the game’s closing minutes. All was not lost for the Red Hawks, who proved they could play with the best in Liberty League and the nation, as Clarkson quickly found out on Saturday.

RPI showed no ill effects of the tough loss less than 24 hours prior as they jumped out to a comfortable 3-0 lead at halftime. The Red Hawks went on to tally two more goals late in the second half en route to an impressive win.

DiDomenico and senior Chris Searles each scored two goals apiece, while freshman Louis Martinelli found the back of the net as well. Bochette had a much easier day, facing only four shots on goal, all of which he easily stopped.

Rensselaer completely dominated the Golden Knights, the only team they beat in league play last season. The Red Hawks came up just one shot shy of doubling Clarkson’s shot total and controlled the game’s tempo from the beginning of the game.

RPI now stands at 4-1-3, and 1-1 in the Liberty League. With the first win of the league season, Rensselaer has some much needed confidence as they get ready for a pair of non-conference matches, one of which is against another nationally ranked opponent.

Plattsburgh State, ranked by several Division III polls, will certainly be looking for some revenge tonight in Plattsburgh after suffering an embarrassing 4-1 loss to the Red Hawks last year at Harkness Field.

Rensselaer will round out the week with a Saturday homecoming match-up with a beatable, but competitive Elmira squad. Elimra delt the Red Hawks one of their most disappointing losses of the 2003 season squeaking out a 3-2 win.

The contest versus Elmira is scheduled for 3 pm on the turf at Harkness Field. Admission to the game will be free.