UTICA — Andrew Benkwitt passed for 355 yards, including three touchdowns, to lead the Utica College football team to a convincing 40-7 win over St. Lawrence University in the season-opening contest for both teams on Saturday night.

The Saints got off to a good start in the nonconference game, taking the opening kickoff and driving all the way to Utica’s 6-yard line before the drive stalled on a failed fourth-down conversion.

Utica took over from there and scored on its first series, ending with a 6-yard pass from Benkwitt to Matt Dunn. The Pioneers went on a roll from there, building a 34-7 lead by halftime.

SLU was led by new quarterback Zane Fish, a former Indian River athlete who passed for 206 yards and gained another 36 rushing. Fish threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to freshman Miles Crump in the second quarter. He also was intercepted three times.

Derek Deltzer and Joe Napolitano each made seven tackles to lead SLU’s defense.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

ST. LAWRENCE 10, JOHN JAY 0

Julia Friesen scored three goals and added an assist as the Saints opened the season with a rout in a nonconference game in Canton.

The Saints scored eight goals in the first half and had 38 shots in the first half, finishing with a 45-0 advantage.

Erika Gobielle scored two goals for the Saints. Brooke Hessney, Mimi Coppinger, Laura Topf, Nyssa LaClair and Grace Lennon also scored for SLU.

CLARKSON 1, OHIO WESLEYAN 0

Kim Kenline made eight saves to lead the Golden Knights to a shutout over Ohio Wesleyan in a nonconference game at SLU. Katie VanDeValk scored the only goal of the game in the 64th minute.

SUNY POTSDAM 4, HILBERT 0

Heather Johnson scored two goals to lead the Bears past Hilbert in a nonconference game in Potsdam that was the season opener for each squad.

Ashley Thayer and Nina Kososinski also scored for the Bears and Jamie Durant made two saves for the shutout.

SUNY CANTON 6, SUNY MORRISVILLE 0

Karlye Cree scored two goals and Jade Sayward assisted on three as the Kangaroos opened the season by blanking SUNY Morrisville in a nonconference game in Canton.

Katlyn Hart, Chelsea Allen, Melissa Campoverde and Kirsten Skelly also scored for SUNY Canton.

MEN’S SOCCER

ST. LAWRENCE 2, LAVERNE 0

The Saints (2-0) scored goals in the first seven minutes to knock off California’s LaVerne University in a nonconference game at Clarkson.

Brian Gilloran scored the first goal for second-ranked SLU in the fourth minute, and Nick Lincoln scored again in the seventh minute for the Saints. Nate Goss-Woliner blanked LaVerne (0-1-1).

Jefferson CC 2, Fulton-Montgomery CC 0

Graham Whalen and Andrew Guyette scored goals as the Cannoneers earned their first victory of the season with a Region 3 home win.

Goalie Sam Lyndaker made just one save to record the shutout for JCC (1-1).

ENDICOTT 2, CLARKSON 1

Two second-half goals helped the Gulls (1-1) knock off Clarkson in a nonconference game in Potsdam.

Jacod Duff scored in the 10th minute for the Golden Knights (0-1-1). Abdulla Al Khalifa tied the game in the 56th minute for Endicott and Ryan D’Amico scored the game-winner on a penalty kick in the 72nd minute.

SUNY POTSDAM 3, MORRISVILLE STATE 2

The Bears scored the first three goals and then held off a late rally to edge Morrisville State in the nonconference, season opener for each team in Potsdam.

Eduardo Figueroa, Conor Engle and Tom Benedetto scored goals for the Bears, giving SUNY Potsdam a 3-0 lead in the 50th minute. Gilroy Alvarez and Joey Plummer scored for Morrisville State.

RIT 1, SUNY CANTON 0 (OT)

Matt Broedel scored from C.J. Brunner in the 92nd minute to pace the Tigers over SUNY Canton (0-2) in a nonconference game in Rochester. RIT (1-1) had a 28-5 edge in shots.

FIELD HOCKEY

SUNY ONEONTA 5, ST. LAWRENCE 1

The Red Dragons scored four goals in the second half to knock off St. Lawrence University in a nonleague game in Utica. It was the opener of the season for both squads.

Suzanne Wright scored two goals to lead SUNY Oneonta. Courtney Cartier scored the only goal for SLU.

VOLLEYBALL

CLARKSON VICTORIOUS

Wins over Simmons College and Westfield State helped Clarkson (3-0) claim the championship at the Springfield (Mass.) Tournament.

Adrienne Walker had eight kills for Clarkson in a 25-15, 25-13, 25-16 win over Simmons. Aishvina Arasu led the Golden Knights in a 25-14, 25-19, 25-19 win over West Field State with 15 kills.

SAINTS SWEEP, BEARS SPLIT

Anna Kassab had 30 assists in the opener and 25 in the second game to help lead the Saints to wins over SUNYIT (25-14, 25-19, 25-19) and Hunter (25-22, 25-23, 25-22) in the second day of the Oneonta Invitational.

SLU (2-2) also received 17 kills from Lexi Brown in both games.

SUNY Potsdam, also playing in the same event, was swept by Houghton (26-24, 26-24, 25-14) and then swept Emmanuel College 25-17, 25-15, 25-13. Kayla Howard had 10 kills against Houghton and added nine more against Emmanuel. Dakota Pruiss led the Bears with 11 kills against Emmanuel.

JCC goes 2-2

Host Jefferson CC won two matches and lost two in its own invitational.

The Cannoneers beat Finger Lakes CC 25-14, 25-13 and Corning CC 25-20, 25-15. They lost to Erie CC, 24-26, 19-25 and Monroe CC, 19-25, 28-26, 9-15.

Lahni Duffer recorded 67 assists and 12 service points for JCC. Ashley Capone contributed 21 kills and five blocks, and Katie Peters had 30 digs.

Monroe beat Erie in the finals.

KANGAROOS WIN TWO

SUNY Canton improved to 3-0 with a pair of home wins, defeating Castleton 25-8, 25-7, 25-10 and then sweeping Wells 25-16, 25-11, 25-5.

Morgan Bills had nine kills in the win over Castleton and Jessica Reynolds added seven kills.

CROSS COUNTRY

BEARS’ HEIMER TAKES SECOND

SUNY Potsdam’s Hollie Heimer finished in second overall as the Bears took fifth place in the women’s division at the SUNYIT Wildcat Invitational.

William Smith’s Emily D’addario won the women’s event, finishing the 5-kilometer course in 18 minutes. 57.1 seconds. Heimer was second in 20:01.7. SUNY Canton’s Megan Mydosh finished 10th.

William Smith also won the women’s event with 42 points and SUNY ESF was second with 60. SUNY Potsdam had 136 points in its fifth-place finish and SUNY Canton was seventh with 167.

SUNY ESF won the men’s competition with 38 points. SUNY Canton was fifth with 160 and SUNY Potsdam was 13th with 354.

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