COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's soccer team suffered a 3-1 loss to regionally-ranked Le Moyne College on Saturday at Duffy Field. The Purple Knights are 4-9-1 overall and 2-9 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Dolphins improved to 11-2-2 and 7-2-2. The Dolphins, who qualified for the past two NCAA Tournaments, are sixth in the United Soccer Coaches East Region poll.

Sophomore Andres Rivas (Caracas, Venezuela/Palmer Trinity School) tallied his third goal of the season for the Purple Knights as classmate Jake Bannon (Clifton, Va./Paul VI Catholic) pitched in the assist. Sophomore Gabriel Pineda (Miami, Fla./Immaculata-La Salle) served the first 79:17 in net with four saves while senior Daniel du Feu (Miami Fla./Palmer Trinity School) relieved him for the remaining minutes as he faced no shots on goal.

Graduate student Marek Weber, who is currently leading the league in goals (16) and points (34), scored a goal and contributed an assist for the Dolphins. First-years Joe Falcone and Patrick Strauss notched their first collegiate goals. Junior Sam Daniel added an assist while senior Ben Beaury had no saves for the day as he only faced one shot on goal.

The Dolphins struck early at 1:27 during an unsuccessful clear by the Purple Knights as Daniel passed to a wide-open Weber on the left side of the box as he slipped one to the bottom left corner. During the 13th minute, Bannon corralled the ball at the center of the perimeter of the box following a failed clear and slipped the ball to the left side for Rivas, who hit a one-timer to the bottom left corner, tying the game.

During the 22nd minute, Pineda denied senior Marcello Palucci's shot before the Le Moyne goalkeeper grabbed sophomore Brady Channell's (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh) lob in the 23rd minute before a Purple Knight could get a touch. Sophomore Salar Faryar's shot was halted by Pineda during the 28th minute while 10 minutes later, senior Matt Vlasich (East Kingston, N.H./Exeter/Saint Anselm) came down the right side, won a loose ball, and sailed a shot that just barely went above the top left corner.

During the 49th minute on a free kick, senior Adrián Díaz (Santiago de Compostela, Spain/Vermont Academy) connected with the head of sophomore Justin D'Orlando (Middleton, Mass./Bridgton Academy), who then directed it across the box with a Dolphin player clearing it. Soon after in the 51st minute, Pineda's initial save on a free kick was knocked loose within the inner box. Following the scramble, Weber tapped the ball to Strauss, who capitalized and sent the ball to the back left of the net.

Cervantes sent a through pass to von Giebel during the 53rd minute that was just a touch ahead as Beaury grabbed the ball. Weber missed a chance to score again after picking up a failed clear beyond the Purple Knight defense but slipped a shot wide of the bottom left corner. Cervantes took a Rivas pass with his back to the goal and turned to strike as a Dolphin defender blocked his attempt during the 64th minute. Falcone padded the Le Moyne lead at 68:59, sending a shot to the left corner from the right side of the box after receiving a pass from Weber but making a move to the outside and creating his own space. The Purple and Gold's final chance came during the 81st minute during a corner kick attempt as Beaury grabbed the cross before any Saint Michael's player could get a touch.

The Purple Knights travel to the University of New Haven for their final away game of the season on Tuesday at 4 p.m.