Newark, Del. – The Le Moyne College men's soccer team recorded a 2-0 defeat at the University of Delaware on Thursday evening in the season opener for both sides at UD's Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium.

The Blue Hens scored once in each half to earn their first win against the Dolphins in the third-ever meeting between the two sides.  Le Moyne and Delaware met for the third consecutive season, with the previous two matches ending in a 2-2 draw.

Delaware sophomore forward Marius Stenner gave the Blue Hens a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute, then senior forward Mikey Johnson found the back of the net in the 72^nd minute off an assist from freshman midfielder Liam Penny. Delaware freshman goalkeeper JoJo Elliot Jr. tallied two saves to earn the shutout win in his collegiate debut.

Delaware outshot the Dolphins on Thursday by a tally of 15-6, and held a narrow advantage in shots on goal, 3-2.

Le Moyne's first opportunity came in the eighth minute as sophomore forward Rhys Allport (Wirral, England/Reaseheath) drove a long ball up the field for graduate forward Francesco Pagano (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius/Syracuse/Coastal Carolina), who ran onto it and headed the ball towards the goal line to evade a defender. Pagano collected the ball in the left side of the Delaware penalty area, made a move to his right and ripped a right-footed shot that was blocked by a Blue Hen defender.

Less than one minute later, Stenner found open space on the right wing, carried the ball towards the middle of the attacking third, then made a move into the right side of the Le Moyne penalty area and placed a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the net to give Delaware an early 1-0 advantage.

In the 13^th minute of the match, Stenner floated a left-footed pass from the right side towards the edge of the six-yard box for Johnson, who thumped a low diving header towards the middle of the net, but Le Moyne sophomore goalkeeper Wyatt Dupell (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) came up with the save.

The Dolphins sprung a quick attack in the 23^rd minute, as graduate forward Jakob Priestman (Leek, England/Westwood/Missouri State) sent a pass into space for redshirt-sophomore defender Vito Kreuzpaintner (Munich, Bavaria, Germany/FOS Nord/UNC Wilmington). Kreuzpaintner carried the ball forward then sent a pass towards the top of the 18-yard box, which was touched by graduate midfielder Antonino Pagano (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius/Syracuse/Coastal Carolina) and rolled to the right of Allport. Allport quickly moved to his right, stepped up to the ball and hit a one-time curling shot that was saved in a diving effort by Elliot.

The score remained 1-0 after 45 minutes, with Delaware holding a 2-1 advantage in shots on goal during the first half.

Dupell collected his second save of the match with just over 33 minutes remaining in the second half, as Delaware freshman Joe Richards made a run into the right side of the box and struck a right-footed shot towards the middle of the goal that was knocked away with two hands by Dupell.

Le Moyne created a promising attack in the 70^th minute, as redshirt-sophomore midfielder Diego Martinez (Veracruz, Mexico/Gulf Coast (Fla.) delivered a through ball into the left side of the Delaware box for senior midfielder Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley). Stuart drove the ball across the face of goal, and it was batted away by a diving Elliot. The ball ricocheted directly to an oncoming Allport, who headed the ball just over the crossbar.

The Blue Hens doubled their lead in the 72^nd minute, as Johnson placed a header into the right side of the Le Moyne net off a corner kick taken by Penny.

Junior forward Myles Palmer (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport/Roberts Wesleyan) smashed a long range shot in the 74^th minute that flew over the crossbar for a goal kick in what would be Le Moyne's final recorded shot of the match.

Le Moyne head coach Callum Donnelly '17, M '21 flashed his squad's depth in the opener, as the Dolphins used 11 substitutes during the 90 minutes.

Junior defender Maximilian Huss (Karben, Germany/Elly-Heuss-Schule) was the only Dolphin to log the full 90 minutes on Thursday, something he has now done 33 times in his Le Moyne career.

Freshman defender Mattia Boldrini (Sesto Fiorentino, Tuscany/Istituto Giovanni Paolo II) featured in Le Moyne's starting lineup during his collegiate debut, while graduate defender Xaver Ehrlich (Dresden, Germany/Sportgymnasium Dresden/Florida Memorial/St. Bonaventure), graduate midfielder Antonino Pagano and graduate forward Francesco Pagano each started in their Le Moyne debuts.

Freshmen Anthony Patone (Pointe-Clair, Quebec/John Rennie), Louis Weisser (Bremen, Germany/Gymnasium Horn), Kellen Farris (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Killbourne) and redshirt-freshman Aiden Granger (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) each made their collegiate debuts off the bench, while juniors Cole Biasi (Buford, Ga./Flowery Branch/Georgia State), Myles Palmer and Karl Lundstrom Svahnqvist (Lexington, Mass./South Kent/Bellarmine) each came on in the second half to make their Le Moyne debuts.

The Le Moyne College men's soccer team will return to action next Wednesday with a 7:00 p.m. match at Lafayette College. The Dolphins will host #22 Cornell University for their home opener on August 30 at 4:00 p.m.