Syracuse, N.Y. - The Le Moyne College men's soccer team earned a 3-0 NE10 Conference win at home during their regular season finale match against the Southern Connecticut State University Owls on Wednesday afternoon, the first match of a soccer doubleheader at Ted Grant Field.

The Dolphins came out of the gates aggressive, creating ample scoring opportunities early on in the match. Senior forward Brandon Mimas' (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker/UAlbany) shot, from inside the SCSU 18-yard box, hit the left post in the second minute of the game. 

In the eighth minute of the match forward Michael Sparkes (Glasgow, Scotland/St. Ninians) took a shot on goal that was saved by Southern Connecticut State goalkeeper Aren Seeger. The ball found its way to Le Moyne midfielder Tom Henne (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Buckhorn) who took a shot that hit the crossbar. 

The Dolphins broke through in the 11th minute of the match. Mimas attacked down the right wing and sent a cross to Owen Bauer (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker/UNC Asheville) who knocked the ball into the back of the net to give Le Moyne a 1-0 lead. 

Le Moyne goalkeeper Josh Mahr (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) saved a shot from Juan Avila in the 21st minute, and stopped a free kick from Josh Muñoz in the 26th minute to maintain the Le Moyne lead in the first half. 

With 7:45 remaining in the first half, Bauer made a move on the left wing and sent a cross to Joe Falcone (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) at the top of the SCSU penalty area. Falcone's first touch was a volley out of the air with his right foot that was put on target, but the shot was saved by Seeger. 

Two minutes later Falcone made an attacking run up the middle of the pitch. The graduate midfielder sent a pass to Bauer on the left side of the Le Moyne attacking third. Bauer pushed the ball past his defender towards goal but was brought down and fouled just outside the penalty area, earning the Dolphins a free kick in a dangerous spot on the field. Robert Rohrhirsch (Garching bei München, Germany/Werner-Heisenberg-Gymnasium Garching/Munich University of Applied Sciences) took the free kick, sending a shot to the near post that was saved by Seeger.

In the 56th minute of the match Mimas ripped a shot on goal with his right foot from outside the Owls 18-yard box. The ball was stopped by Seeger, but the pace of Mimas' shot caused Seeger to give up a rebound. As the ball popped in front of the goalkeeper, Sparkes crashed in for the rebound, getting to the ball first and depositing it into the back of the net to give Le Moyne a 2-0 lead. 

Sparkes almost scored another in the 57th minute when he got the ball in the middle of the Le Moyne attacking third, at the edge of the penalty area. Sparkes dribbled to his left, and took a shot with his left foot, but the pressure from the Owls defense caused his shot to slice wide left of the goal. 

With just over 20 minutes remaining in the second half, Bauer sent a through ball in the air over the defense into the path of Rohrhirsch, who had made a carefully-timed run down the left-middle portion of the Owls half to get in behind the defense. Bauer's pass put Rohrhirsch on a breakaway towards goal. Seeger came off his line to cut down Rohrhirsch's scoring angle, but the savvy veteran from Garching bei München, Germany skillfully placed his right-footed shot around the oncoming Seeger and into the bottom right corner of the net for his ninth goal of the season to extend Le Moyne's lead to 3-0. 

Le Moyne did not allow a shot on goal in the final 20 minutes of the match, and came away with a 3-0 NE10 Conference victory to close out the regular season. Mahr and the Le Moyne back line completed their seventh clean sheet of the year. The Dolphins have earned the six seed in the Northeast-10 Conference tournament. They will play their NE10 tournament quarterfinals match on Saturday at Saint Rose.

The Le Moyne College men's soccer program has now earned a spot in the NE10 Conference Championships for the 20th season in a row, the second longest streak for any program in the conference. 

With today's win against Southern Connecticut State, Le Moyne head coach Tom Bonus has now led his program to eight straight 10-win seasons. Under the leadership of Coach Bonus, the Dolphins men's soccer program has won at least 10 games in 17 of his 21 seasons. 

Here's what Bonus had to say after the match:

"I thought it was a good performance from the guys, really professional. It's always good to get a win going into the playoffs… Like I told the guys in the locker room, the season starts Saturday. It's a three game season now, so it's good to get some momentum going into Saturday."

Kickoff time for the Le Moyne College men's soccer team's NE10 Conference Championships Quarterfinals match at the College of Saint Rose on Saturday, October 6th will be 1:00 p.m.