Box Score Teaneck, NJ – The Mercyhurst Men's Soccer team traveled to New Jersey this afternoon for a contest against Fairleigh Dickinson University. The Lakers had been undefeated in their previous two matches and were coming off of a shutout victory against Le Moyne. However, they suffered their largest margin of defeat this season as FDU beat them by a score of 3-0. 

How it Happened
The first big chance of the match came in the eighth minute where Danilo Abayo made a terrific save to prevent Matt Giraldo from putting FDU up early.  On the other end of the pitch, Dylan Sumner played an inviting ball in near the penalty spot to find Cade Wurstner in the eleventh minute. Wurstner's header narrowly went over the bar, but these early chances for both sides set the tempo for the match going forward.  FDU almost scored just minutes later except Danylo Abayo and the Lakers defense made a great save and block to keep the score at 0-0. 

The Knights then broke the deadlock in the 25th minute of the match. This began with a shot by Dominic Valenzuela that was deflected by Danilo Abayo. Alex Kryazhev then headed the rebound back across the box where Kevin Leonhard was waiting to head the ball in the net and put FDU up 1-0. The Knights kept their offensive aggression as they found a second in the 34th minute. This time, Takuto Nishide sent a ball in from a set piece that found the head of Alex Kryashev. Kryashev's glancing header went past Abayo to give FDU a 2-0 lead heading into the locker rooms at halftime. 

The first real action of the second half did not occur until the 62nd and 65th minute where Takuto Nishide and Dylan Sumner each missed a shot. Both sides were struggling to generate offense for the first 20 minutes or so of the half. The Lakers found themselves with a chance to get one back in the 75th when Frank Lovett fired off a shot at the bottom left corner of the net. However, Spencer King quickly got down and made the save. 

Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Knights would then seal the victory on a counterattack goal. Eric Dlabal played a through ball into Harrison Hew, who squared it to Kiran Treacy-Hind to put the Knights up 3-0 with nine minutes to go in the match. Toward the end of the match, Dylan Sumner hit a volley that just barely went by the far post. This play summed up what turned out to be a rather frustrating afternoon for the Lakers. 

Highlights
Kevin Leonhard scored his tenth goal of the season. 
Alex Kryashev scored his third goal of the season. 
Kiran Treacy-Hind scored the first goal of his FDU career. 
 
Up Next 
Mercyhurst will travel back to Erie, PA this upcoming Halloween for their last home match of the season. Kick off for this match against Long Island University will begin on Thursday, October 31st at 1:00 PM Eastern Time (ET). Viewers can find live coverage on the NEC Front Row.