Potsdam, N.Y. - Three goals in the opening 25 minutes of the match powered the Clarkson University Men's Soccer team past Vassar College, Saturday afternoon on senior day. 

The Knights close out the 2025 regular season at 6-5-4 overall, 3-3-2 in conference play and will travel to Union College next Tuesday for the first round of playoffs as the #6 seed. 

Clarkson could not have hoped for a better start as Zach Ruthfield provided an early advantage just 29 seconds after the opening whistle. Daniel Medina latched onto a loose ball in midfield 25 yards out and took a touch around a defender with his back to goal before feeding Ruthfield charging down the left wing. The freshman got on the ball just inside the 18-yard box and connected on a sweetly struck left-footed shot that flew past the Vassar keeper and off the underside of the crossbar to open the scoring. 

Looking to put the game out of reach early.the Knights would add a second at the 12th minute mark. Following a goal kick from the Clarkson defensive end the ball was sent down into the Vassar penalty area and collected by Paul Rolland who managed to loft a pass into the middle of the box from the right side. Waiting in the middle was Noah Partenza who went parallel with the ground, meeting the pass on the volley, placing a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner for 2-0. 

Following two more testing attempts from the Golden Knights on the Vassar goal, Arden Tobolski provided the first test for Carter Kladstrup off a corner, sending in a right-footed inswinger that just barely found the top of the crossbar and bounced behind for a goal kick. 

With the next goal being pivotal for the momentum for the match, Clarkson was a bit fortunate to have the ball end up in the back of the Vassar net for the third time on the afternoon in the 24th minute. A free kick taken quickly by the Brewers ended up leading to a bouncing ball in the defensive backline that a defender looked to play back to Patrick Gale in net. A slight miscommunication between the two led to the header looping over Gale, who was unable to recover to get a hand on the ball, and into the net for the games third goal within the first 25 minutes. 

Kladstrup was tested twice more by Tobolski but managed to get behind the ball on both occasions as the Knights would take a 3-0 lead into halftime. 

Tobolski came ever so close to giving the Brewers a quick start of their own in the second half at the 49 minute mark. Standing over a free kick from 20 yards out, Tobolski unleashed a curling right-footed attempt around the wall that seemed a certain goal before being met by an outstanding diving effort by Kladtsrup, to keep the shutout intact. Vassar had another good attempt in the 67th minute when Isaac Taegar tested Kladstrup with a shot from the middle of the box off of a long throw but Kladstrup again got behind the ball for one of his three saves of the second half. 

The Knights would have another great opportunity of their own in the 79th minute following a free kick. A ball floated in from the right wing dropped right to Jay Jezioro in the middle of the penalty box but the shot flew straight at Jacob Raphan for his one stop of the second half. 

Vassar held an advantage in shots (13-7) while both sides registered five shots on goal. Kladstrup would make five saves total for Clarkson in 87 minutes with Josh Morelli closing the final minutes of the contest out. Gale would make two saves in the first half while Raphan would make just one in relief in the second for Vassar.