Waltham, Mass. – The Le Moyne College men's soccer team delivered a strong 90 minute performance on Saturday afternoon to claim a 3-1 conference victory on the road against Bentley University. Three different Le Moyne players scored their first goal of the season, including graduate midfielder Terence Crysler-Howard (Toronto, Ontario/Toronto Prep School) who found the back of the net for the first time as a Dolphin in his 43^rd career match.

Graduate students Max Buesch (Odenthal, Germany/Gymnasium Odenthal/Bethany Lutheran) and Max Van Duin (Noordwijk, Netherlands/Teylingen College Leeuwenhorst/Free University of Amsterdam), both in the midst of their first campaign with the Dolphins, both scored their first goal in a Le Moyne shirt on Saturday against the Falcons.

Once the Dolphins got comfortable in the match, they began to hold possession and frequently produced dangerous attacking buildup. They outshot Bentley 9-3 during the first 45 minutes, and were even more dominant in the second half, recording five shots on goal compared to zero for Bentley during the final 45 minutes.

"Solid three points on the road," said Le Moyne Head Coach Tom Bonus. "I'm proud of the effort. We need to be ready Wednesday against a tough American International team," Bonus added.

With 30:45 remaining in the first half, Van Duin received the ball in the right side of Le Moyne's attacking third and slipped a nice pass to graduate midfielder Tom Henne (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Buckhorn) who made a run into the right side of the Bentley penalty area. With his first touch Henne hit the ball hard across the face of the goal, but sophomore forward Michael Sparkes (Glasgow, Scotland/St. Ninian's), who was open at the far post, was unable to get a touch on it and the ball rolled all the way to the opposite sideline.

In the 18^th minute, the Dolphins were holding possession in their attacking third when Sparkes, who received the ball at the left touchline, switched the field and sent a pass to Benedict Klimmek (Kiel, Germany/RBZ am Schützenpark) in the right side of the field. Klimmek took two swift dribbles forward with purpose before unleashing a shot from the laces of his right boot that first bounced at the edge of the six-yard box and skipped towards the left post. Bentley goalkeeper Eduardo Bomfim quickly dove to his right to protect his goal, but his services were not needed as the shot bounced to the left of the post and out of bounds.

Van Duin won a loose ball at midfield for the Dolphins in the 24^th minute and sent a quick pass towards the right corner in the path of Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) to put Le Moyne on the offensive. Goodrich carried the ball to the middle of the field, drew a help defender and sent a pass to Henne, who was on his left about 27 yards from goal. Henne settled the ball and hit a shot with the instep of his right boot that dipped towards the crossbar. Bomfim leaped straight up and punched the air with his right fist as the ball sailed just above the crossbar and out of bounds.

In the 30^th minute the Falcons went on a quick counterattack and Evan Levine used a burst of speed to get past the Le Moyne defense and put himself on a breakaway towards goal.

Levine took a big touch as he approached the 18-yard box and Le Moyne goalkeeper Josh Mahr (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayettevill-Manlius) came off his line, but Levine was able to touch the ball to his left and evade Mahr before the goalkeeper could challenge him.

Levine entered the left side of the six-yard box and took a shot with his left foot that reached the back of the net just before a sliding Klimmek could make a miraculous goal line save.

With one minute remaining in the first half and the Falcons hanging on to a 1-0 lead, Michael Lantry (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill/Syracuse/DePaul) was brought down in the box while pursuing the ball, awarding the Dolphins a kick from the penalty spot.

Buesch stepped up to take the kick for Le Moyne, and he put his shot on the ground through the middle of the goal frame and into the back of the net to tie the match at 1-1.

The Dolphins found a nice groove during the first half and were able to hold possession for extended periods of time, moving the ball up the field and bombarding the Bentley back line with dangerous balls served into the box continuously from both sides of the field. The Dolphins carried the momentum into the second half as they looked to take the lead. 

About three and a half minutes into the second half, Brett Stern (Lockport, N.Y./Newfane/Duquesne) got the ball near the right sideline in Bentley's defensive half and found some space in front of him.

Stern dribbled with pace diagonally into the 'Phins attacking third, got past a Bentley defender and then in an effort to avoid a second defender knocked the ball a few yards to his left, setting the ball up perfectly for Crysler-Howard. Crysler-Howard, standing in the center of the attacking third, a little over 20 yards from goal stepped forward and with his first touch ripped a shot low with his left foot that deflected off of a Bentley defender, popped up in the air, flew towards goal, bounced off the crossbar and out of play for a corner kick.

Following the goal kick the Dolphins won the ball back in the Falcons' half of the field. Stern headed the ball to Henne, who turned towards goal in the middle of Le Moyne's attacking third.

Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) made a diagonal run into the box from the left wing, and Henne sent a pass into his path. Stuart took a touch then ripped a shot with his left foot towards the far post.

Bomfim dove and got his left hand on the ball to make the initial save, but he deflected it to the right side of the six-yard box, where Cyrsler-Howard smashed the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal to give the 'Phins a 2-1 lead.

In the season opener against Caldwell, it was the graduate midfielder Crysler-Howard that provided an assist on the freshman Stuart's first career goal, and on Saturday Stuart repaid the favor by creating a favorable rebound chance for Crysler-Howard to score the first goal of his Le Moyne career.

With 31:30 left to play in the match, Stern took a Le Moyne corner kick from the right corner flag. Stern sent his cross in the air towards the edge of the six-yard box, where Klimmek attacked the ball and sent a powerful header towards goal.

His shot rattled the crossbar and the Le Moyne bench thought they had their third goal after the net appeared to move, but the ball bounced back onto the field and play continued.

The Dolphins retained possession and Alessandro Otte (Suderburg, Germany/Herzog-Ernst-Gymnasium Uelzen/Hochschule Wismar) was able to take a shot from the top of the box that was struck well but sailed high over the crossbar.

With under 18 minutes remaining in the second half, the Dolphins, being chased by Bentley players while holding possession, sent the ball all the way back to Mahr. With a Bentley attacker sprinting at him, Mahr used his first touch to kick the ball far up the field and away from his goal.

Mahr's kick, taken from inside his own box, traveled far beyond midfield and over the head of a retreating Bentley defender that jumped to try and head it away. The ball bounced and kept moving towards the goal line in the middle-left portion of the field. Van Duin used his speed to separate from the last Bentley defender and tracked the ball down at the top of the 18-yard box.

Van Duin moved alongside the ball as it bounced towards the six-yard box, then opened his gate and took his first touch, a well-placed shot with his right boot that got past Bomfim and hit the bottom right corner of the net to give the Dolphins a 3-1 advantage on the road.

Mahr, a graduate goalkeeper, recorded his first career assist on the play. That was one of the few times he was involved in the action on Saturday, as the Dolphins only allowed one shot on goal during the victory. One could confidently say that this will be the only time in Mahr's career that he will record more assists than saves in a game.

The Le Moyne College men's soccer team (3-2-3, 1-1-2) will be back in action on Wednesday, September 28, when they take on American International College in Springfield.