Box Score

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-- Clarkson University senior Greg Gibbons (Baldwinsville, N.Y./CW Baker) broke a 13-13 tie with six seconds to play in regulation to give the Golden Knights  a 14-13 win over Skidmore College in the Liberty League men's lacrosse semifinals at Wachenheim Field.

Clarkson (10-4) advances to Sunday's championship game against St. Lawrence at 12 p.m. in Canton.  The Thoroughbreds end their season at 9-6.

The Golden Knights led 12-10 with 3:10 to play in the game, when Skidmore's Matt Levesque (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) scored three straight goals in a 1:05 span to put the Thoroughbreds in front 13-12.

Levesque started the run with a man-down goal from Jacques Ward (New York, N.Y./Governors Acad.) with 3:10 to play.  It was his league-high 50th goal of the season.  Levesque faked his defender to the turf and scored an unassisted goal with 2:22 to left to tie the game 12-12.  Just 17 seconds later, Levesque gave the Skidmore its first lead since the game's opening goal with his 52nd of the season.

Next it was Gibbons' turn to play the hero.  He tied it 13-13 with 1:18 to play with his 46th goal of the season.  Cory Barkoff (Port Washington, N.Y./Schreiber) won the ensuing faceoff  for the Thoroughbreds and Levesque rifled a shot off the post that went out of bounds with 34 seconds to play.  Clarkson was able to quickly get the ball up field to Gibbons, who moved the from behind the Skidmore net for a point-blank goal and the 14-13 win.

The tight game featured four lead changes and nine ties.

Gibbons finished with six goals.  Brian Hoey (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) added two goals and two assists for the Golden Knights, while Tyler Long (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) contributed two goals and one assist.  Andrew Kott (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) had a team-high five ground balls.

Levesque led the Thoroughbreds with four goals, all in the fourth quarter.  Barkoff had three goals, two assists, and five ground balls.  Senior Nick Coppola (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge), the nation's assist leader,  had a goal and two assists. He finished his collegiate career with a 57-game scoring streak, contributing a point in every career game.

Clarkson goalie John Szvoren (Hamburg, N.Y./Canisius) had 16 saves, 12 in the second half. Flip Bongaerts (Summerland, Calif./New Canaan) stopped 13 shots for Skidmore.

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                         Lacrosse Game Summary (Final)
                      2009 Skidmore College Men's Lacrosse
      Clarkson vs Skidmore College (May 01, 2009 at Saratoga Springs, NY)
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                   Clarkson (10-4) vs. Skidmore College (9-6)
Date: May 01, 2009  Location: Saratoga Springs, NY  Stadium: Wachenheim Field
Attendance:245   Start time:4 pm      End time:5:53      Total time:1:53
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SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Clarkson............  4  1  4  5 - 14
Skidmore College....  2  3  4  4 - 13

Clarkson SCORING: GOALS: Greg Gibbons 6; Brian Hoey 2; Tyler Long 2;
Bryan Huff 1; Tom Ross 1; Erik Hilfinger 1; Andrew Bachman 1.
ASSISTS: Brian Hoey 2; Bryan Huff 2; Tyler Long 1; Cory Schneider 1.

Skidmore College SCORING: GOALS: Matt Levesque 4; Cory Barkoff 3; Rob
Lutin 2; Ben Cornell 2; Nick Coppola 1; Tom Levesque 1.
ASSISTS: Cory Barkoff 2; Nick Coppola 2; Alex Giaimo 1; Jeremy Goldman
1; Rob Lutin 1; Jacques Ward 1.

Clarkson GROUND BALLS: Andrew Kott 5; Pat Kilday 4; Bryan Huff 3; Evan
Renwick 3; John Szvoren 3; Andrew Liptak 2; Mike Perkins 2; Cory
Schneider 2; John Weinhold 2; Jon Furgal 1; Greg Gibbons 1; Mike Ross
1; Mike Simmons 1.

Skidmore College GROUND BALLS: Scott Grillo 6; Cory Barkoff 5; Ryan
Paradis 5; Scott Madison 3; Alex Baharestani 2; Flip Bongaerts 2; Ben
Cornell 2; Rob Lutin 2; Nick Coppola 1; Alex Giaimo 1; Jeremy Herrmann
1; Tom Howley 1; Michael Jennings 1; Matt Levesque 1; Tom Levesque 1;
Chris Tennekoon 1.

Clarkson TURNOVERS CAUSED: Andrew Kott 1; Mike Perkins 1; Tom Ross 1;
Cory Schneider 1.
Skidmore College TURNOVERS CAUSED: Jacques Ward 2; Alex Baharestani 1;
Alex Giaimo 1; Scott Grillo 1; Jeremy Herrmann 1; Tom Levesque 1;
Scott Madison 1.

SHOTS - Clarkson 39; Skidmore College 43.
SHOTS ON GOAL - Clarkson 27; Skidmore College 29.

PENALTIES - Clarkson 3/2:30; Skidmore College 6/5:00.
MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - Clarkson 2-6; Skidmore College 2-3.

TURNOVERS - Clarkson 17; Skidmore College 17.

FACEOFFS - Clarkson 15-31; Skidmore College 16-31.

CLEARS - Clarkson 21-24; Skidmore College 17-23.

GOALIES - CLARKSON: John Szvoren 10-4 (60:00 minutes, 29 shots-16
saves, 13 GA); SKIDMORE: Flip Bongaerts 9-5 (60:00, 27-13, 14).

Start time: 4 pm      Finish time: 5:53      Length of game: 1:53
Officials: Skip Spensieri; John Stiso; Michael Dyer. Scorer: Bill
Jones.

A-245 T-1:53
Liberty League semifinals. Clarkson moves on to Sunday's championship
game.