During the first half of Wednesday's men's match, Jefferson Community College goalkeeper Andrew Mclean made a couple of remarkable leaping saves to help keep his team on top 1-0 going into halftime. Mclean's teammates then took over the show, scoring three more goals after intermission in a 4-0 victory over the Saints.

Jeffrey Lloyd scored twice, Trenton Sullivan and Sebastian Mastin added a goal each and Mclean recorded three saves to earn the shutout victory as the Cannoneers blanked the Saints to improve to 1-1.

The Saints best scoring chances came during the early stages of the opening half, but they came up empty each time. Sullivan broke the scoreless deadlock when he marched through several NCCC defenders and sent a low shot past keeper Julius Haranyi into the left corner of the net for a 1-0 Jefferson lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half.

The Cannoneers then took control with their three-goal outburst after halftime. Lloyd netted his first goal just four minutes after intermission to put Jefferson on top 2-0, and scored again at the 70-minute mark to up the lead to 3-0. Mastin then rounded out the scoring two minutes later to put the game out of reach.

With the loss, NCCC's men dropped to 2-4.

"We did not come out strong in the second half," Saints coach David Clayton said. "No intensity from the guys today; it was a let down for sure. You get a couple wins and then let up. We'll get back to it. We have a game on Sunday."

Cannoneers coach Joe Vaddi said he was pleased with how his team played after dropping its season-opener against Erie Community College.

"I thought we did a much better job today than our first game when we got caught up in a long ball game when we played against Erie," Vaadi said. "Today, we moved the ball on the ground a little better, played the flanks, in and out, we got some good looks, and we finished too. We finished the ones we had.

"I'm really happy with how my young kids are coming along," Vaadi continued. "We're a totally different team than we were a year ago. We have some skill where we can hold the ball. We're skilled in pretty much in 11 positions, which helps a lot, and my goalie made some great saves."

The Saints next play on the road Sunday at Finger Lakes, a team they defeated 5-3 at home on Aug. 28. Clayton said if his team competed harder against Jefferson, it could have resulted in a win, and hopes the Saints will turn things around this weekend.

"It's a winnable game but if we come out and play like we did today, we won't win," Clayton said. "They just won ever 50-50 ball and we didn't win a single one. They played hard and with passion, and we lacked that today. If you don't come prepared you end up losing."

Story & Photo courtesy Lou Reuter and the Adirondack Daily Enterprise