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PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Nazareth's men's soccer team dropped a non-conference game to Mount St. Mary, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon. The Knights used a pair of second-half goals to defeat the Golden Flyers in the Cardinal Classic, hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh.

Following the loss, Nazareth drops to 0-4 overall. With the victory, Mount St. Mary improves to 1-3-1 overall.

After a scoreless opening half, the Knights' Eric Hayes broke the deadlock with his first goal of the season. He converted a give-and-go with teammate Michael Blaauboer just 65 seconds into the second. Mount St. Mary added an insurance goal in the 83rd minute when Elmer Moran scored. Similar to the goal by Hayes, Moran scored on a give-and-go. Connor Lynch returned the ball to Moran, who was able to volley his shot over Nazareth freshman goalie Alex McLean.

The Golden Flyers kept the game scoreless in the first half thanks to three saves by McLean. McLean was tested in the 10th minute, 17th minute, and 44th minute. The Knights finished the period with a 7-3 advantage in total shots. Nazareth had two shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes, an attempt by junior Ben Rodney in the 28th minute and a header by freshman James Walsh in the 35th minute. Both shots were saved by Mount St. Mary's Austin Peluso. Rodney had the Golden Flyers' lone attempt on goal in the second stanza, which came in the 64th minute.

Peluso earned the victory with three saves in 90 minutes of action. Saturday's game was his first shutout of the season. McLean finished with three saves for Nazareth.

The Knights finished with a 12-6 advantage in total shots while the Golden Flyers had a 5-2 advantage in corner kick opportunities.

The Golden Flyers will likely play Colby-Sawyer at 12 p.m. on Sunday in the Cardinal Classic third place game. Plattsburgh was leading Colby-Sawyer 5-1 in the second half of their contest. Following its game on Sunday, Nazareth travels to Fredonia on Wednesday for another non-conference game.