ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College suffered its first Empire 8 Conference setback of the fall tonight at the wings of visiting Nazareth by a score of 3-1. The Golden Flyers (6-3-2/2-1-2 E8), which captured both the E8 regular season and Tournament titles en route to its fourth-ever NCAA Tournament appearance last season, netted their three goals in a 3:54 span early in the first half to quickly break things open.

Freshman midfielder Braxton Harper (Sharpsburg, GA/The Heritage School) had the lone goal for RSC, an unassisted tally off of a net-front scrum with 9:05 remaining.

Cuneyt Vardar, a grad student factored into all three Nazareth goals, registering a goal and two assists.

Following the early visiting outburst, the Gators, which got off to their best-ever start within the conference, pushed the action in the second half. RSC outshot the Golden Flyers 17-6 in the final 45 minutes and 23-18 on the night.

Junior goalie Tyler Brennan (Albany, NY/Shaker) (Loss, 4-4-1) stopped eight Nazareth shots, while the duo of sophomore Logan Menna (Win, 6-3-2) and junior Patrick Larkin combined for 11 saves. 

RSC (5-4-2/3-1-0 E8) is in the midst of a stretch of five-straight home games.  The homestand continues on Wednesday night vs. SUNY Cobleskill.  The non-conference contest, which will serve as the program's "Senior Night", is set to begin at 7:00 pm.

Notes: RSC got off to its best-ever start in E8 play at 3-0-0…The fall marked the first season with Amir Pasic at the helm of the program...He picked up his first career win on Thursday, September 1 at Castleton...17 players returned to the team...Junior defender/midfielder Ian Maguire (Dunstable, MA/Groton Dunstable Regional) and midfielder/forward Christian Vålstuen (Lillestrom, Norway/Lambertseter Athletic), a fifth-year senior, were voted co-captains.

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