COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's soccer team was upended by American International College, 2-1, on Wednesday at Duffy Field. The Purple Knights are 4-8-1 overall and 2-8 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Yellow Jackets are 5-7-1 and 4-5-1.

Sophomore Justin D'Orlando (Middleton, Mass./Bridgton Academy) collected his second goal of the season for the Purple Knights as senior Adrián Díaz (Santiago de Compostela, Spain/Vermont Academy) pitched in the assist. First-year Leland Gazo (Colchester, Vt./Rice Memorial/Bradley) served the first half in net while sophomore Gabriel Pineda (Miami, Fla./Immaculata-La Salle) relieved him for the final stanza, picking up one save.

Sophomore Jake Durham tallied a goal along with first-year Josip Validzic for the Yellow Jackets. First-year J.P. Rylah contributed both assists while first-year Ioannis Iatroudis had six saves for the afternoon.

The Yellow Jackets struck early within the fourth minute as Rylah sent a short cross from the left endline with Validzic one-touching a shot to the right side. Off of a corner kick three minutes later, Durham one-touched the corner pass to the near side to put American International ahead 2-0. In the ninth minute, sophomore Jake Bannon (Clifton, Va./Paul VI Catholic) sent a cross from the left side as junior Cole McIntire (Eliot, Maine/Marshwood) headed it high. Two minutes later, junior Bradley Anair (Bennington, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) one-touched a shot after receiving a pass from senior Brendan Todd (Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J./Green Mountain Valley School) that resulted in an Iatroudis save.

In the 20th minute, Rylah dribbled down the left side with a Purple Knight defender on his right hip, hitting a shot that sailed just high of the crossbar. With Gazo out of position, senior Jackson Steele (Swampscott, Mass./Cushing Academy) denied a Durham shot near the left side of the net in the 40th minute. With less than a minute left to play in the opening stanza, sophomore Brady Channell (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh) sent a through pass with classmate Jacob von Giebel (Lambertville, N.J./South Hunterdon Regional) connecting as he slammed a point-blank shot straight at the goalie, who denied the attempt.

 In the 46th minute, Channell lobbed a pass over the Yellow Jacket defenders for von Giebel, causing the goalie to come out and close off the angle while forcing von Giebel to send the shot just wide of the left post. During a corner kick attempt with McIntire all alone, he headed the lob just high of the left corner at 51:29. In the 56th minute, Díaz's corner kick connected with the head of D'Orlando, who slipped the ball to the top right corner to bring the Purple Knights within 2-1.

The Purple and Gold's next best opportunity came in the 58th minute from an Anair pass that connected with McIntire, whose header caused Iatroudis to punch the ball over the crossbar. Sophomore Anders Graff Nygard sent the lone shot on goal in the second half for the Yellow Jackets in the 66th minute as Pineda denied the shot. Within the three final minutes of play, D'Orlando held the final two shots as his first strike caused the Yellow Jacket goalie to make a diving save near the right post. Saint Michael's outshot American International 10-4 in the second half.

The Purple Knights host Le Moyne College on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Dolphins, who qualified for the past two NCAA Tournaments, are sixth in the United Soccer Coaches East Region poll.