EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette men's soccer hosted Army on Saturday at Gummeson Grounds: Home of Mike Bourger '44 Field at Oaks Stadium, which resulted in a 2-0 win for the visitors. Prior to kickoff, the Maroon and White honored their four seniors, Connor DeAngelis, Eric Axtman, Nicholas Liebich and Jeovany Gamez, for all that they've given to the men's soccer program over their careers.

The match got off to a slow start, but Lafayette almost opened the scoring in the seventh minute. The Leopards were in sound possession when sophomore midfielder James Melnick lifted the ball towards Army's back line. Junior Nikolas Hadjimitsis continued his run into the penalty area and nearly had a golden opportunity when Michael Guiry misjudged the pass. The Black Knights eventually cleared their lines.

Army had more of the ball after 20 minutes, but struggled to find the key pass to unlock Lafayette's defense. The visitors put together some half chances, but senior defensive leaders Liebich and Axtman marshaled their penalty area well.

The Maroon and White nearly broke through in the 30^th minute. The move started at the feet of sophomore defender Anthony Durling, who picked out junior forward Roy Biegon running with pace at Army's defenders. The Nairobi, Kenya native wasted no time beating his man and getting into a shooting position. His right-footed strike was heading for the bottom corner, but Guiry made a comfortable save down to his left.

Brian Plotkin's side had some set piece opportunities later in the stanza, but after 45 minutes the match remained scoreless.

The Black Knights opened the contests scoring in the 56^th minute. Nicholas Berardi was 40 yards from goal on the right flank when he spotted Jack De Simone striding into the penalty area. The defender's whipped cross found De Simone's feet, who held off a defender before spinning and finding the bottom corner to beat Axtman.

Army nearly doubled its advantage in the 68^th minute, but Axtman made a top-notch save to deny the visitors. Eric Lusskin was running onto a loose ball at the top of the box and didn't think twice about shooting. The midfielder rifled a half volley at goal, but the Harrisburg, Pa. native sprung to his left and pushed away any danger.

Lafayette had a difficult time breaking down Army's back line and the visitors capitalized in the 80^th minute. The Leopards were defending a deep throw-in when the ball trickled back out to the top of their box. The ball sat up nicely for an oncoming Justin Davidyock, who unleashed a powerful effort that found the top corner.

At the final whistle, the visitors improved to 5-5-5 and Lafayette dropped to 5-6-5.
 
The Leopards are back in action at 7 p.m. on Friday, as they host Boston U. in a Halloween matchup.
 

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