Albany, NY — The Sage Colleges' men's soccer team hosted the Soaring Eagles of Elmira College in the 2019 Empire 8 opener for both teams. The visiting Soaring Eagles got the only score of the contest as sophomore forward Mark Brado Jr. scored at 21:20 for a 1-0 victory at the Albany College of Pharmacy Saturday afternoon. Elmira is now 5-2-1 overall (1-0 E8) and the Gators stand 3-4 (0-1).

Adam Nichols took the initial shot that was stopped by Sage sophomore keeper Lucas Bourdeau (Castleton-on-Hudson, NY/Maple Hill). But the rebound came out to Brado, Jr. near the right post and he converted his first of the season that held up for the game winner. Xavier Townsend made six saves for Elmira, including four in the second half. He made a leaping save to his right at 74:35 off the shot of sophomore midfielder Kevin Winglosky (Schodack, NY/Ichabod Crane). Just minutes later at 77:23, he robbed Winglosky again with a mid-air diving stop to preserve the win and shutout. Earlier, at 49:09, Sage sophomore midfielder/forward Rafael-Enrique Holguin (Gansevort, NY/CBA) hit the crossbar on a drive.

In goal for the Gators, sophomore Lucas Bourdeau (Castleton-on-Hudson, NY/Maple Hill) made one stop on the day. Sage had a 15-6 shot advantage, with seven shots in the second period. The Gators also had seven corners to Elmira's two, and those two both came in the first half.

Sage is back in action on September 24 travelling to MCLA for a 7 p.m. non-conference match on Tuesday with the Trailblazers. Elmira travels to SUNY-Delhi on September 25 for a 4 p.m. non-conference contest.