NEW HAVEN, Conn. -  The Albertus Magnus College men's soccer team opened up its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) schedule with a 1-1 tie with New England College (NEC) on Wednesday evening at Celentano Field.

Declan Ryan (Hamden, Conn.) scored the lone goal for the Falcons to tie the game in the 59th minute.

THE BASICS
FINAL: Albertus Magnus 1 | New England College 1
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (1-0-2, 0-0-1 GNAC) | New England College (1-0-2, 0-0-1 GNAC)  

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Falcons dominated possession the first half of the game, taking 12 shots to two for the Pilgrims. However the Pilgrims made the most of their attempts, scoring in the 18th minute as Noel Huliselan cut across the top of the box and was fed a pass by Derren Mota. Hulisean flicked the ball up on his first touch and ripped a shot to the right side past an outstretched David Lucero (East Haven, Conn.) to give the Pilgrims a 1-0 lead.

Albertus nearly tied it in the 21st minute as a free kick from Johan Stagnaro hit the bottom of the crossbar, but not past the goal line as the game remained 1-0 into the half.

At the 59 minute mark, a cross from Aiden Coelho (Naugatuck, Conn.) was headed by Walter Fontes (Hamden, Conn.), but was stopped by NEC goalkeeper, Hayden Walker. The rebound came back to Ryan, who headed in his first career goal, and tied the game, 1-1.

The Falcons had three other good chances on goal the rest of the half, but Walker stopped all three.

The Falcons backline prevented any shots on goal in the second half from the Pilgrims.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Albertus - David Lucero (T, 1-0-1): 1 Shot on Goal | 1 Goal-Against |  0 Saves
New England - Hayden Walker (T, 1-0-2): 9 SOG | 1 Goal-Against | 8 Saves

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Falcons outshot the Pilgrims by a 23-5 margin. 

• Albertus out-cornered New England 8-2. 

• The Pilgrims were whistled for 11 fouls, while the Falcons were called for four. 

• New England held an 8-0 advantage in saves

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NOTEWORTHY

• Tonight's contest was the first-ever meeting between the Falcons and the Pilgrims. It was also the first GNAC game ever for the Pilgrims.

• Declan Ryan scored his first career goal in tonight's match. 

• Donaldo Yanez (West Haven, Conn.) made his first career start tonight.  

UP NEXT
The Falcons travel to New London, New Hampshire on Saturday, September 9 for a 2 p.m. tilt with the Chargers of Colby-Sawyer College.