Easton, Pa. – The Le Moyne College men's soccer team held a 1-0 lead over the Lafayette College Leopards at halftime during a non-conference battle at Lafayette's Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium on Tuesday evening, but the Leopards scored three second-half goals, including two penalty kick goals, to claim a 3-1 win at home over the Dolphins and improve their record to 2-0-2.

The Dolphins broke the 0-0 tie in the 25^th minute when redshirt-junior forward Noah Sperduto (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira) intercepted a pass in the right side of Lafayette's penalty area, dribbled at the Lafayette goalkeeper and then sent a pass to his left for freshman forward Felix Ludemann (Wrestedt, Germany/Herzog-Ernst-Gymnasium Uelzen), who passed the ball into an open net with his first touch to give the Dolphins a 1-0 lead.

The goal was the first of Ludemann's collegiate career, and Sperduto registered his first points of the season with an assist on the play.

Sperduto and Ludemann nearly combined again to double Le Moyne's lead in the 34^th minute. The two Dolphin forwards chased after a long ball down the center of the field from graduate defender Brett Stern (Lockport, N.Y./Newfane/Duquesne). Ludemann ran onto the ball from the left wing, and crossed paths with Sperduto who fanned out towards the left side of the penalty area. Ludemann sent a header to his left for Sperduto, who hit a hard right-footed shot with his first touch that was blocked by the diving Lafayette goalkeeper.

With just over three minutes remaining in the first half, Lafayette brought the ball up the right side of their attacking third, and sent an aerial ball into the box. Three Lafayette attackers converged near the landing point of the pass at the edge of the six-yard box, but Le Moyne goalkeeper Matthew Gera (Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) stepped forward and caught the ball in the air to end the threat.

Following a Le Moyne corner kick with under a minute left, the Lafayette defense blocked a Le Moyne shot and sprung a quick counterattack. Lafayette freshman forward Roy Biegon dribbled across midfield and continued his run up the right wing into Le Moyne's penalty area. Biegon was able to put a low shot on goal, but it was scooped up comfortably by Gera.

Gera finished the contest with five saves.

Less than five minutes into the second half, the Leopards took a corner kick from the right flag. The 'Phins thwarted the initial cross, but the ball bounced back out to the right wing and Lafayette sent another cross into the box. While the ball floated in the air a foul was called on the Dolphins within their own 18-yard box, awarding Lafayette with a penalty kick.

Lafayette senior forward Hale Lombard converted the kick from the spot to record his fifth goal of the season and tie the game at 1-1.

Some good combination play from freshman forward Kjell Knaak (Aukrug, Germany/Schule Hohe Geest) and graduate midfielder Luca Nicastro (Ottawa, Ontario/Nepean/St. Bonaventure) with 13:45 remaining in the second half set Sperduto up with an opportunity just outside the 18-yard box, but his shot was blocked by a Lafayette defender.

In the 77^th minute Lafayette freshman midfielder Beaux Lizewski sent a cross from the left wing into the box for Biegon, who brought the ball down and sent a hard left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the Le Moyne goal to give the Leopards a 2-1 lead.

With 3:30 left in the game, Lafayette drew another foul inside Le Moyne's penalty area, and senior midfielder David Mizrahi deposited the penalty kick into the right side of the net to make it 3-1 in favor of the Leopards.

The Le Moyne men's soccer team will play next on Tuesday, September 12 at Monmouth University.