Junior captain Baker Diaz scored his first goal of the season in the 58^th-minute to take the lead, but two goals went the other way as the St. Lawrence University men's soccer team fell 2-1 to SUNY Cortland on Sunday afternoon at Sandy MacAllaster Field.

The Scarlet and Brown fell to 0-2-0 with the loss, while the Red Dragons improved to 2-0-0.

"The team really showed up in a big way today," said head coach Mike Toshack. "Were disappointed to lose, and at the least I believe we deserved to draw. But we continue to get better every game, and many young players are making contributions, which is fantastic to see. We continue to build and look forward to Plattsburgh next week as we get ready for our Liberty League schedule."

Early on in the game, first-year goalkeeper Zach Amato had to make a pair of quick saves for the Saints and stood up to the task in his first career contest. St. Lawrence flipped the script as they gained their footing, getting four chances on the goal. The most threatening chance came from another first-year in Kenneth Mejia Lopez, who rang a strike off the crossbar, keeping the score at 0-0.

Nicholas Petrone and Eric Edmonds also tested the Cortland goalkeeper late in the half. Petrone had his shot stopped, and Edmonds saw his shot clip the post as the game went to halftime.



In the second half, the pressure finally paid off as the Saints found the scoreboard. First-year defender Cam Moyers was up on the play and pushed the ball through the right side pitch. The newcomer centered a ball into the box, where Diaz chipped the ball past Jordan Ott to claim the lead. The assist was the first for Moyers in his collegiate career.

Grant Gilmer had a chance to double the lead in the following minutes, but instead the Red Dragons came through with an equalizer in the 63^rd-minute.

Cortland and St. Lawrence battled following the goal as they sensed the importance of the next goal. A foul in the 82^nd-minute put the Red Dragons in an advantageous spot. Aidan Miller's free kick was stopped but, in the chaos, Shay Daly buried a shot to gain the lead.

St. Lawrence was only able to get one more shot off the rest of the way and failed to tie the match.

Cortland held a slight 16-15 edge in shots and led 8-6 in shots on goal. St. Lawrence had the edge in corner kicks, however, 3-2.

Amato came up with six saves in his collegiate debut, while Ott stopped five in the opposing goal.

St. Lawrence will head to the road for the first time next weekend when the team heads to Plattsburgh State for a 4 p.m. match on Saturday, September 6.