EASTON, Pa. - Start spreading the news, FDU men's soccer is 1-0 in 2022! Seth Roland's side completed a 1-0 victory over Lafayette (0-1) Thursday evening with junior Tony Gomez placing the game-winner in the 34'.
 

How It Happened

1st Half

• The first 20 minutes of the game saw the home side dominant offensively before FDU broke away with four shots down the stretch of the opening period, including the goal off the boot of the Santander, Spain native - reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year - Gomez.
• Navigating some traffic in the box, Gomez's fourth goal came off assists from graduate student Joshua Ferreira and freshman Matt Giraldo, the first assist of his career. The goal was Gomez's first career game-winner.
• Each side was awarded two corner kicks in the opening period.

2nd Half

• Protecting a 1-0 lead coming out of the break, FDU's strategy was defense first - stopping six shots from the Leopards with fourth-year goalkeeper Spencer King tallying three saves in the period.
• King logged his 15th career match with two or more saves in the sixth win for FDU over Lafayette - a series which began in 1989.
• FDU used four newcomers in the match with junior Jayd Hamdaoua making the start.

Of note: Heading into Thursday's game against FDU, Lafayette has lost just three home matches in the last three seasons.
 

Quotable

"Tony did very well slotting it away," said the Knights' legendary head coach. "He did very well in the first half and I thought everyone gave a really solid effort, particularly, Fallou Tounkara, Alberto Herranz, Hugo Bacharach and Spencer was great in goal. Spencer is very mature and professional and very calm. When he's in the zone, he's very good and every year he's been in the zone more and more often and I think that's a very good start for him this year. We should have confidence that we can compete and compete hard and come out with a win even when we're a little unbalanced and a little off our game. We still showed a great mentality in fighting and scratching and clawing and battling, coming out with a W. Going into Army we should have confidence, though they will be the exact same thing - physical and aggressive. It's good to start the season off with a win."

"It was a hard game but we played well as a team and were lucky to score the goal," remarked Gomez. "We're 1-0 and need to keep it going. Coming back, we need to keep playing like that going back to the last game of last season."
 

The Road Ahead

FDU hits the brand-new pitch at University Stadium on Monday, August 29 at 7 p.m. live on NEC Front Row. The Burgundy and Blue defeated the Black Knights 1-0 in West Point last season off a score by senior Edoardo Calzola. Army will be the second of three-consecutive Patriot League opponents FDU will face, wrapping up with Navy on Friday, September 2.

Connect with FDU men's soccer on Twitter and Instagram, @FDUKnightsMSOC.