A bid for the Liberty League regular-season title came up short for the Clarkson University Lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon as the Golden Knights fell to 14th-ranked Skidmore College 13-10 in Saratoga Springs, NY in the final regular-season game for both teams.

Clarkson, which owns an 8-6 overall record, finished the league schedule with a 4-2 conference mark and gained the third seed in the upcoming Liberty League Tournament. The Knights will play at #2-seed Union in semifinal round action on Friday May 6. Skidmore, which owns an 11-3 record, clinched the league title with a 5-1 conference mark and will host fourth-seeded Rensselaer in the semifinals. The championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed on Sunday, May 8.

After battling Skidmore to a 5-5 tie at the half, junior Bryan Huff (Hillsborough, NJ) gave the Knights a 6-5 lead at 10:56 of the third, but the Thoroughbreds answered back with five straight goals to take a 10-6 lead after three quarters.

Clarkson tired to overtake the home team in the final 15 minutes, outscoring Skidmore 4-3 in the fourth quarter, but time ran out on the Green and Gold rally.

Junior Eric Gollands (Chelmsford, MA) paced the Knights’ offense with two goals and two assists. Sophomore Matt McCabe (Syracuse, NY) also tallied four points with one goal and three assists. Sophomores Brendon Shearin (Goffstown, NH) and Kyle Kasprzyk (Orchard Park, NY) scored two goals apiece. Senior Tyler Long (Liverpool, NY), Huff and freshman Cody Kilcoyne Brasher Falls, NY) all connected for one goal.

Matt Levesque scored five goals to lead the Thoroughbreds.

Skidmore outshot Clarkson 41-39 and controlled groundballs 42-33. Sophomore Ryan Cole (Orchard Park, NY posted 13 saves and shared the team lead in groundballs (4) with senior Mike Perkins (Baldwinsville, NY).