Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College men's soccer team recorded a 0-0 draw on Tuesday evening during an NE10 Conference match against the #2 ranked team in the nation, Franklin Pierce University. The Ravens of FPU traveled to Syracuse with an unblemished 8-0 record, having scored an NE10-leading 26 goals so far to begin the campaign with eight consecutive victories, led by sophomore forward Braudilio Rodrigues who has already put away seven goals in 2022, which is the highest total among any player in the conference.

The Dolphins had already produced a good result against a top five ranked opponent earlier in the season when they recorded a 1-1 tie against Mercyhurst University at home on September 7, when the Lakers were ranked #4 in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll. Once again on Tuesday against #2 FPU, Le Moyne competed hard for 90 minutes, and goalkeeper Josh Mahr (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) came up with five important saves to record the clean sheet and earn a point in the NE10 Conference standings.

"A great result today against a very good Franklin Pierce team. Boys did a great job competing and we're proud of the effort," said Le Moyne Head Coach Tom Bonus after the game.

Rodrigues nearly put the Ravens ahead in the 82^nd minute when he put an impressive shot on net, but Mahr came up with a great save to deny the 2021 First Team All-Region selection. Rodrigues got on the ball in the middle-left portion of the Ravens' attacking third, took a dribble to put the ball on his right foot, then unleashed a well-struck shot from about 28 yards out that had some movement on it as it headed towards the upper right portion of the net. The shot was going to dip just under the bar and into the upper right corner of the net if not for Mahr diving to his left and deflecting the ball off of its trajectory. Mahr fully extended his body to knock the ball up, and he successfully kept it out of the net, but it hit the cross bar and bounced back into play. FPU graduate midfielder Marc Lopez got to the rebound first and took a shot from the right edge of the six-yard box that sailed over the crossbar and out of bounds.

The Ravens had already hit the cross bar prior to that in the 49^th minute during a chaotic play in the Le Moyne penalty area during which Vincente Valor Martinez hit the ball to Younes Addar, who from the penalty kick spot took a shot that hit the crossbar and bounced back into the middle of the penalty area. FPU senior defender Aitor Aguado struck the ball well with a one-time shot on the rebound, but it flew over the crossbar.

With just under 13 minutes left in the first half the Dolphins won back possession in their attacking third near the left sideline, and Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) sent a quick pass ahead to graduate forward Max Buesch (Odenthal, Germany/Gymnasium Odenthal/Bethany Lutheran). Buesch turned towards goal and ripped a shot with his right foot that bent towards the upper right corner of the net but it sailed over the bar and out of bounds for a goal kick.

To keep the high-powered Ravens offense off of the scoreboard, the Dolphins went with a defensive back four of left-footed Michael Lantry (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill/Syracuse/DePaul) on the left, Benedict Klimmek (Kiel, Germany/RBZ am Schützenpark) and Ben Quigley (Perth, Scotland/Community School of Auchtererder/University of Stirling) in the middle, and Brett Stern (Lockport, N.Y./Newfane/Duquesne) on the right. Klimmek, Quigley and Stern each played the full 90 minutes in front of Mahr on Tuesday, while Lantry played 85 of the 90.

The Le Moyne College men's soccer team has now recorded one loss and two ties in NE10 Conference play. They will be back in action on September 24 when they travel to Bentley University to take on the Falcons at 12:00 p.m.