Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College men's soccer team suffered its first home loss on Tuesday in its final non-conference match of the season against Lafayette College. Both sides scored in the first half, but the Leopards put away the go-ahead goal in the 79^th minute to leave Syracuse with a 2-1 victory.

The Dolphins outshot the visitors by a tally of 15-5 during the 90 minutes, and held the advantage in corner kicks, 6-1.

Le Moyne freshman forward Noah Morelli (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara-Wheatfield) recorded his second goal of the season during the match, while redshirt-senior defender Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) added to his team-leading points tally with his second assist of the campaign.

The loss snapped an eight-game unbeaten streak for the Dolphins, and was their first defeat since August 25.

Both sides entered the match ranked in their respective regional polls, with Le Moyne (5-2-4, 2-0-1 NEC) moving up to No. 8 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Northeast Region Poll, while Lafayette (6-4-3, 2-2-1 Patriot League) re-entered the Atlantic Region Poll on Tuesday at No. 10.

The Leopards struck first with just over 20 minutes remaining in the first half when sophomore midfielder Max Fujimori ran onto a ball on the left wing and sent a pass to his right for freshman forward Gabe Faust, who took a touch into the left side of the Le Moyne penalty area then placed a shot on the ground into the bottom right corner of the net to record his first career goal and put Lafayette in front, 1-0.

In the 38^th minute, Le Moyne junior forward Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) won possession inside the Lafayette penalty area and was brought down, earning a PK for the Dolphins.

Goodrich placed his kick from the spot towards the bottom right corner, but Lafayette goalkeeper Eric Axtman dove to his left and blocked the shot with his right arm. Morelli came crashing towards goal and knocked his rebound attempt off the left post and into the center of the net to tie the match at 1-1.

Seven of the first eight shots of the second half were taken by the Dolphins, but it was Lafayette that found the go-ahead goal in the 79^th minute when Fujimori intercepted a pass in the Dolphins' defensive half then carried it towards the edge of the 18-yard box and ripped a shot into the bottom left corner of the Le Moyne goal.

With just over 4:30 remaining in the second half, Morelli took a touch towards the center of Le Moyne's attacking third then sent a pass to his left for junior midfielder Bryce Koagel (West Monroe, N.Y./Paul V. Moore/Medaille), who took a touch into the left side of the penalty area and drove a shot towards the bottom right corner, but Axtman dove to his left and knocked the shot away from goal to maintain Lafayette's lead.

Less than a minute later the Dolphins received a red card and were forced to play the remainder of the game with 10 men.

The Dolphins won a corner kick in the 88^th minute, but were unable to find the equalizer and suffered just their second loss of the season.

Le Moyne junior goalkeeper Matthew Gera (Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) made his first start and appearance of the season, recording two saves, while freshman defender Andrew Piccolo (Toronto, Ontario/Michael Power-St. Joseph) added three shots with two shots on target in 56 minutes played during his second appearance of the campaign. Koagel, who made his second start during the match, played the full 90 minutes for the second time this season. Defenders Brady McNulty (San Gabriel, Calif./Temple City/Niagara) and Victor Boje Henriksen (Greve, Denmark/Greve Gymnasium/Saint Rose) each also played all 90 minutes.

Le Moyne has five Northeast Conference games remaining on its 2024 regular season schedule. The Dolphins will return to action on Sunday when they host Central Connecticut State for an NEC match at Ted Grant Field, with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m.