Amherst, N.Y. – Graduate student forward Marek Weber (Fulda, Germany/Sportgymnasium Jena/Goethe-University Frankfurt) registered a hat trick in the opening 13 minutes to lead the Le Moyne College men's soccer team to a 3-1 win over Daemen College in the season opener for both teams on Thursday afternoon at Karrer Field.
 
The Dolphins opened the scoring just over 90 seconds into the season following a throw-in from the right side by senior midfielder Adam Resetarits (Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt). After freshman back Saemundur Óli Björnsson (Reykjavik, Iceland/The Commercial College of Iceland) had a header turned away by the goalkeeper, Weber snuck a shot over the goal line for his first tally as a Dolphin.

Le Moyne doubled its lead five minutes later. Sophomore Pablo Fernandez (Aviles, Spain/Real Oviedo) sent a cross from the left side into the middle of the penalty box, where Weber raced in and headed the ball into the back of the net at the 6:33 mark for the eventual game-winning goal.

The Dolphins capped their game-opening outburst at the 12:52 mark of the first half. Redshirt senior midfielder Marcello Palucci (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep/Florida International) carried the ball down the left side before serving the ball into the penalty box. Weber ran into the open space and one-timed a shot inside the near left post.

Weber is the first Dolphin to record three goals and six points in a contest since Matthew Pecheone '09 did so at Stonehill on September 1, 2007. Over the last 15 seasons (2003-present), Weber is just the sixth Dolphin to tally three goals in a game. He is just the second Dolphin in the span to score three times in the season opener as Scott Newman '05 registered four goals in the 2004 opener, a 6-1 victory over Nyack.

Daemen got into the scoring column with just under nine minutes remaining in the game. After the Dolphins got whistled for a foul inside the top of the penalty box, Nik Ringdahl Bohlin buried a penalty kick into the left side of the net at the 81:19 mark. The goal marked Daemen's first in six all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Dolphins, a series the Dolphins now lead 6-0 and hold a 23-1 scoring advantage.

Senior goalkeeper Ben Beaury (Cohoes, N.Y./LaSalle Institute) earned his 38th career victory between the pipes after making five saves. Mitchell Coll took the loss for the Wildcats after yielding three goals in the first half, while making two saves. Le Moyne registered a 13-9 advantage in shots, including 6-2 in the first half, while Daemen posted a 7-6 edge in corner kicks.

Le Moyne (1-0), which is unbeaten in its last four season openers (3-0-1), opens the home portion of its schedule on Monday against Roberts Wesleyan College at 11:00 a.m.