NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College men's soccer team suffered their first loss of the season to Great Northeast Athletic Conference rival, the Blue Jays of the University of Saint Joseph (CT), in a 2-0 loss on a rainy Saturday evening.

THE BASICS
FINAL: USJ 2 | Albertus Magnus 0
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (4-1-3, 3-1-2 GNAC) | USJ (6-0-1, 4-0-1 GNAC)
BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Blue Jays found the back of the net in the 31st minute as Dane Stephens drove inside from the left flank and netted a curling shot that struck off the post and into the goal to go up 1-0.

USJ found another opportunity to capitalize when the team earned a penalty kick at the 36th minute. With David Lucero (East Haven, Conn.) in net for the Falcons and Michael Torres at the PK-spot, Lucero lunged to make a diving save towards the left side of the goal. Torres found himself able to put another shot on goal from the rebound, but Lucero was there again to make a stellar save before the ball eventually was headed over the top of the goal.

The Falcons found some chances just before the halftime break, getting shots off from Kris Bocchio (Middletown, Conn.) and Johan Stagnaro (East Hartford, Conn.), but were unable to find the back of the net on the opportunities. The Blue Jays held a 1-0 edge going into the halftime break.

In the 65th minute of play, some miscommunication in the USJ backline allowed for Bocchio to snag a ball just outside the penalty box and riffle off a shot that was saved by goalkeeper El Hadji Anne. The ball ricocheted out to Kelvin Cortez (Meriden, Conn.) who attempted to put a shot on target but it just narrowly missed out wide. 

In the 78th minute, the Blue Jays capitalized once again as Jason Moleiro cut the ball back across the face of the goal to Emmanuel Ofori who was able to slide a shot into the bottom left corner to score a second goal for USJ.

The Falcons continued to mobilize their forces to find opportunities to score, but left empty handed as the Blue Jays held on strong for a 2-0 victory.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
Albertus - David Lucero (L, 3-1-2): 6 Shots on Goal | 2 Goals-Against | 4 Saves
USJ - El Hadji Anne (W, 5-0-1): 3 SOG | 0 Goals-Against | 3 Saves

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Blue Jays outshot the Falcons, 15-10. Furthermore, USJ also had the edge in shots on target, 4-3. 

• The Falcons out-cornered the Blue Jays, 7-5.

• There were a plethora of fouls in the game, with the Falcons committing 12 to the Blue Jays' seven.

NOTEWORTHY

• Albertus has suffered its first loss of the season, ending the team's longest unbeaten streak to begin a season.

• There were six yellow cards issued in the match. Five were given to the Falcons: EJ Gonzalez (Cheshire, Conn.), Eduardo Chavez (Norwalk, Conn.), Cortez, Morgan Stone (Wallingford, Conn.) and Orantay Blake (Hamden, Conn.). The lone yellow card given to a Blue Jay was to Charles Mputu.

UP NEXT

The Falcons host a non-conference matchup against the Owls of Westfield State on Wednesday, September 27. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.