Teaneck, N.J. – The Le Moyne men's soccer team tied their season-high of eight shots on goal on Thursday at FDU in Northeast Conference action, but FDU graduate goalkeeper Spencer King made seven saves, and the Knights scored two second-half goals to claim a 2-0 win at University Stadium.
King, the reigning NEC Goalkeeper of the Year, collected his fifth clean sheet of 2023 during the win.
The Dolphins limited the defending NEC regular season and tournament champions to just four shots on goal in the 90 minutes, and zero shots on goal during the first half.
FDU broke the 0-0 tie in the 55
th minute when sophomore forward Matt Giraldo drove a shot from the left side of the Le Moyne penalty area that took a deflection on its way towards goal before tucking inside the left post and hitting the back of the net.
The Knights doubled their lead in the 85
th minute on a breakaway goal.
"I thought we stuck to the game plan in the first half and had some good chances ourselves. FDU showed us at the D1 level, we must take the chances we get because teams will punish you if you do not. It was a team effort defensively, starting from our forwards," said Le Moyne head coach
Callum Donnelly '17, M '21 after the match. "I think we created some very good chances against a team that doesn't give up very many if you look at their other games. I'd love us to be more ruthless in these moments, but I'm glad we are creating them. There are some clear positives to take away from the match. The players were frustrated and disappointed after the game which shows they felt they could have gotten something out of it. We just lacked a killer instinct tonight and FDU showed why they are the current champions by taking their moments," Donnelly added.
In the 11
th minute, redshirt-junior defender
Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) regained possession for Le Moyne near the left sideline, then moved towards the middle of the field and sent a pass to redshirt-sophomore forward
Jakob Priestman (Leek, England/Westwood/Missouri State), who ripped a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that rolled just wide of the left post.
With just under 29 minutes left in the first half, Priestman drove a one-touch half-volley pass in behind the right side of the FDU defense for freshman forward
Felix Ludemann (Wrestedt, Germany/Herzog-Ernst-Gymnasium Uelzen), who dribbled into the penalty area before hitting a left-footed shot that flew wide of the left post.
With nine minutes left in the first half, a creative give-and-go between freshman midfielder
Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) and freshman forward
Kjell Knaak (Aukrug, Germany/Schule Hohe Geest) led to Stuart drawing a foul outside the 18-yard box in the right side of Le Moyne's attacking third.
On the ensuing free kick, Goodrich delivered the ball in the air to the edge of the six-yard box where graduate defender
Ben Quigley (Perth, Scotland/Community School of Auchterarder/University of Stirling) put a header on goal that was blocked by King and cleared away by the FDU defense.
The score remained tied 0-0 after 45 minutes of play.
A few minutes into the second half, a ball was played into the Le Moyne penalty area for FDU forward Tony Gomez, but freshman goalkeeper
Wyatt Dupell (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) came off his line and dove on the ball just before Gomez could get to it.
With a little over 37 minutes remaining in the second half, Priestman stole the ball in FDU's defensive third, then sent a pass to redshirt-junior forward
Noah Sperduto (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira) in the middle of the field. Sperduto knocked a pass to his left for Stuart, who took a touch into the left side of the penalty area and hit a left-footed shot on the ground that was saved by King.
One minute after FDU scored its first goal, immediately following a Le Moyne corner kick, the Knights went on a quick counterattack.
FDU sophomore forward Jaime Barbero raced up the left side of the field, and only Le Moyne's
Bryce Koagel (West Monroe, N.Y./Paul V. Moore/Medaille) stood between him and a breakaway opportunity towards goal.
Barbero slowed up his run as he approached Koagel, then made a quick move to his left, but Koagel stood his ground and cleanly dispossessed the FDU attacker to extinguish the threat and regain possession for the Dolphins.
In the 65
th minute, Le Moyne went on a quick counterattack as Knaak dribbled quickly up the center of the pitch and sent a pass out to the left wing for Sperduto. Sperduto corralled the ball near the sideline and sent a pass back to Knaak just outside the top right corner of the 18-yard box. Knaak curled a right-footed shot that flew past the diving goalkeeper and just wide of the right post for a goal kick.
Freshman defender
Maximilian Huss (Karben, Germany/Elly-Heuss-Schule) received the ball in Le Moyne's defensive half in the 77
th minute, dribbled with pace across midfield and into the final third, then made a move past an FDU defender and hit a right-footed shot from inside the penalty area that was knocked into the air and caught by King.
30 seconds later, Le Moyne graduate defender
Benedict Klimmek (Kiel, Germany/RBZ am Schützenpark), who made his season debut during the match, executed a clean slide tackle at the edge of Le Moyne's penalty area to end an FDU attacking chance.
Le Moyne earned a free kick in the right side of their attacking third in the 89
th minute, but King caught the ball that was played into the box.
The Dolphins took 12 total shots during the match, which marks the fifth consecutive game that the team has recorded at least 10 shots.
Le Moyne's eight shots on goal tied the team's season-high that it set during a 2-2 draw at Delaware on September 19.
The loss ended Le Moyne's four-game unbeaten streak.
FDU, one of four teams in the league to have played three conference games so far, moves to the top of the conference standings following the win with a 2-0-1 record and seven points in NEC play. The Dolphins remain tied for second place with four points and a 1-1-1 conference resume.
The Le Moyne men's soccer team will return to action on Wednesday for its final non-conference game of the season at Stony Brook University.
Following the match at Stony Brook, Le Moyne will resume NEC play on October 15 at Saint Francis University.
