Albany, N.Y. – In their first Northeast-10 Conference match of the 2022 season the Le Moyne College men's soccer team lost a close 1-0 game against the College of Saint Rose Golden Knights on Wednesday afternoon in Albany.

The Golden Knights, who tied #15 Southern Connecticut State 0-0 on Saturday in their first NE10 Conference match of the season, improve to 4-1-1 on the year following the win.

"I thought we gave Saint Rose too much respect and did not compete and battle like I have seen this team do before," said Le Moyne head coach Tom Bonus after the game.

Both sides put three shots on goal during the 90 minutes, and both sides earned three corner kicks in the second half.

In the 7^th minute Terence Cyrsler-Howard (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto Prep School) sent a pass from the middle of the field to the right wing for Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley). Stuart tracked the ball down and dribbled into the right side of the penalty area with a Saint Rose defender closely guarding him, then made a quick move to his left to create space and hit a shot with his left foot low towards the near post. Saint Rose goalkeeper Tomas Rozman dove to his left and comfortably gathered the ball with both hands to record the save.

With 28:37 remaining in the first half Saint Rose gained possession of the ball in their own half near midfield. The Golden Knights moved the ball to the edge of their attacking third, and then senior forward Hilmar Halldorsson chipped the ball in the air over the Le Moyne defense towards the right side of the 18-yard box. As it bounced at the top of the penalty area the Le Moyne back line scrambled to recover into a solid defensive position, and Saint Rose senior midfielder Josh Elliot appeared to have been bumped as he was pursuing the ball. Elliot fell to the ground within the penalty area, and although the contact was minimal, the referee awarded the Golden Knights a penalty kick, which Halldorsson converted with a hard shot to the bottom left side of the net to put them up 1-0.

In the 17^th minute Stuart used his speed to get free on the right wing, and he sent a cross with his right foot over the head of three Saint Rose defenders towards the left side of the box, where Michael Sparkes (Glasgow, Scotland/St. Ninians) brought the ball down and sent a pass to Max Buesch (Odenthal, Germany/Gymnasium Odenthal/Bethany Lutheran) who was standing a few yards away to his right.

Buesch's first touch was a shot with the instep of his left foot that was hit hard toward the near post, but it was blocked by a Saint Rose defender.

Le Moyne center back Benedict Klimmek (Kiel, Germany/RBZ am Schützenpark) sent a long ball in the air towards the Golden Knights' defensive third with 24:25 remaining in the first half.

The ball hit the chest of a Saint Rose defender out of the air then bounced between a group of players including Le Moyne midfielder Alessandro Otte (Suderburg, Germany/Herzog-Ernst-Gymnasium Uelzen/Hochschule Wismar) who pounced on the ball, knocked it away from the group and found an open lane towards goal through the right side of the Saint Rose penalty area. Otte took one touch and then just as he entered into the penalty area he took a shot with his right foot that bounced across the face of the goal and rolled just wide of the left post.

With just over four minutes left to play in the first half, Le Moyne gained possession of the ball in their own half, and graduate midfielder Max Van Duin (Noordwijk, Netherlands/Teylingen College Leeuwenhorst/Free University of Amsterdam) sent a pass ahead to senior forward Owen Bauer (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker/UNC Asheville) who positioned himself on the right wing at the edge of Le Moyne's attacking third.

Bauer took a few dribbles forward then wound up and drove a pass in the air over a defender towards the egde of the six-yard box, intended for Buesch who made a run down the center of the penalty area. Buesch left his feet and threw his lower body towards the ball, raising his right leg in the air in an attempt to deflect the ball on goal, but the ball was out of his reach and it bounced to the back post where Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) got a touch on it just before a sliding Saint Rose defender could knock it away, but he was unable to keep the ball in bounds and it flew beyond the goal line for a goal kick.

In the 51^st minute the Dolphins gained possession in the opponent's half of the field and made a series of passes to move the ball across the Golden Knights' defensive third, looking for an opening to attack.

The ball was passed to defender Michael Lantry (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill/Syracuse/DePaul) on the left wing and he sent a cross in the air towards the back post. There were two defenders with Buesch, but there was not a Saint Rose defender in front of Otte, who was on the receiving end of Lantry's cross at the edge of the six-yard box.

Otte headed the ball into the ground towards the left side of the net, but Rozman dove to his right and after the ball bounced, he punched it out of the air with his right fist away from goal and out of bounds for a corner kick.

With under 20 minutes to play in the second half, Tom Henne (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Buckhorn) made a run into the left side of the Saint Rose penalty area and tracked down a creative pass from Goodrich. Henne fended off a defender then began on a diagonal path towards goal. The graduate center midfielder hit a shot from about eight yards out, but it was blocked by a defender and flew out of bounds for a corner kick.

The last recorded shot during the match by Le Moyne occurred immediately after Jackson Card (McGraw, N.Y./McGraw) was brought down on the left wing at the edge of Le Moyne's attacking third.

Goodrich took the free kick for Le Moyne, and he sent a cross with his left foot into the middle of the penalty area. Buesch was able to get a head on the cross, but his shot flew over the crossbar.

The Le Moyne College men's soccer team now holds a 2-2-1 record, and they will play another road conference game on Saturday afternoon against Southern New Hampshire University, who is ranked number five in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Division II Men's East Region Poll.