HENNIKER, N.H. - The Albertus Magnus men's soccer team used three first half goals to secure its first win of the season in a 4-0 drubbing of New England College in the team's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener.

Gabriel Paglia (Amity, Conn.), Johan Stagnaro (East Hartford, Conn.), Lorenzo Lauria (New Haven, Conn.) and EJ Gonzalez (Cheshire, Conn.) each scored for the Falcons.

The goals from Lauria and Gonzalez both came on headers off of a set piece.

THE BASICS

FINAL: Albertus Magnus 4 | New England College 0 

RECORDS: Albertus (1-0-1, 1-0-0 GNAC) | NEC (0-2-0, 0-1-0 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons got on the board in the tenth minute as Dorian Wilczynski (Bristol, Conn.) split two defenders with a pass and found Paglia, who was racing down the right sideline. Paglia had a one-on-one chance against NEC goaltender, Hayden Walker and took a shot at the near post to give the Falcons the early 1-0 lead.

• In the 19th minute Stagnaro took a pass at the top of the 18-yard box without a defender in sight from Julius McNeill (East Hartford, Conn.) and ripped a line drive shot to the far side of the net past a diving Walker to give Albertus the two-goal lead.

• Aiden Coelho (Naugatuck, Conn.) placed a corner kick to the far post and Lauria skied over everyone and headed in his team-leading second goal of the season in the 44th minute to put Albertus up 3-0 heading into halftime.

• In the 53rd minute, the Falcons put the game away as Gonzalez headed in a free kick from Elian Nava (Meriden, Conn.) for the final tally of the game.

• NEC had a penaltly kick opportunity in the 82nd minute, but a shot from Santiago Sanchez went off the post.

BETWEEN THE PIPES

Albertus

David Lucero (W, 1-0-1) 5 Shots | 5 Saves | 0 Goals Allowed

Luke Tomas 1 Shot | 1 Save | 0 Goals Allowed

NEC

Luke Tate (L, 0-1) 3 Shots | 2 Saves | 1 Goal Allowed

Hayden Walker 6 Shots | 3 Saves | 3 Goals Allowed

BY THE NUMBERS

SHOTS: Albertus 13 | NEC 12

CORNER KICKS: NEC 7 | Albertus 3

FOULS: Albertus 12 | NEC 10

NOTEWORTHY

• Lauria now has a goal in each of his first two games as a Falcon.
• Nava's assist was his first career point of his career.
• It was the first career win for the Falcons over NEC as the two teams tied in their only other matchup last season.
• Albertus is now 4-0-1 in its last five GNAC openers.

UP NEXT

The Falcons take on the University of Hartford in a non-conference road match at 7 p.m. on September 11th.