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EASTON, Pa. - Seven saves from sophomore goalkeeper Brad Seeber and a defensive save from classmate Christian Moyse held off a late Army surge as the Lafayette men's soccer team left Oaks Stadium victorious on Saturday afternoon with a 1-0 victory in the Patriot League opener.

The league-opening win for Lafayette is a first since 2010 and the lone goal came off a strike from junior co-captain Ryan Egan in the 44^th minute. Winning the ball off a goalie throw, he was able to work into space from about 25 yards out above the right side of the opposing box. Egan sent a right-footed strike across the front of goal and into the far-side netting for the winning marker.

"We bumped Ryan higher tactically to get him to press, which he does so well, and he created a turnover high up the field and hit a great shot while they were a little disorganized," head coach Dennis Bohn said. "Kudos to him not only for the finish, but to creating it with a great tackle."

Egan's goal came late in a first half that was defensive in its majority with just five shots combined between the two teams. That defensive mentality only continued throughout the second half of play as the Leopards played out the second stanza without a shot, choosing to defend their advantage.

That tactic almost proved costly in the 59^th minute as a header from Army's Nick Williams ricocheted off the left post and out of play. Then, in the 76^th minute, Seeber began to shine.

Off a turnover on the right side of the Lafayette defense, Army's Christian Ollen got a good look at goal, firing a shot toward the top right corner. Seeber made a fully-stretched fingertip save to send the ball up over the crossbar. Just a few minutes later, he came up with another brilliant effort, using quick reactions on a deflected wide-angle shot to keep the ball out of the net.

"I love these type of games. Patriot League games are always my favorite because they're always so even," Seeber said. "Army's a great team and we knew it was going to be a tough game, but I couldn't be happier to walk out with three points today."

All in all, the sophomore came through with seven saves on the afternoon, including a little help from Moyse with a save off the line in the final moments. The 1-0 victory is Seeber's fourth clean sheet of the year and moves the team's record to 4-2-3 and 1-0-0 in conference play.

Army's pressure late skewed the final stats as shots finished 10-3 in favor of the Black Knights and the visitor's held the edge in corners as well, 8-3.

Lafayette hits the road for its next contest on Saturday, traveling to Baltimore, Md. to take on Loyola at 1 p.m.