ROCHESTER, N.Y. –A pair of early goals pushed the Nazareth Golden Eagles past the Allegheny men's soccer squad, 3-1, in the season debut for both squads on Saturday at Golden Flyer Stadium.

Sophomore Aaron Donahoe tallied Allegheny's lone goal late in the second stanza off of an assist by senior captain Cameron Olson, but it was three goals in the first 40 minutes that pushed the Golden Flyers (1-0-0) past the Gators (0-1-0).  Sophomore goalkeeper Jake Pugliese recorded six saves in net, shutting out Nazareth in the second half to provide an opportunity for a Gator comeback, but Nazareth goalkeeper Diego Abreu responded with eight stops for the home squad.

With 18 total shots and 11 corner kicks, including 10 shots and six corners in the second half, the Gators were simply unable to erase the deficit outside of Donahoe's 85th minute strike.  Olson and freshman Tolossa Hassan placed two shots on goal each, as seniors Axel Monzon and Corey Macmillan along with sophomores Jonas Skattum and Nick Dias each placed a shot on target.

Nazareth opened the scoring in the 5th minute on a goal by Lucas Bennett, striking again in the 7th on a tally by Dylan Toscano.  Both goals were assisted by Ryan Foley, who picked up a goal in the 38th minute to give the Golden Flyers a 3-0 halftime advantage.

The Gators ramped up the intensity in the second, as Macmillan placed a shot on target in the 49th minute that required a save from Abreu, but the Allegheny scoring chances would be limited in the second half as Abreu would not need to make another save until stopping a shot by Hassan in the 68th minute.  After Donahoe scored his first goal of the season, Abreu stopped a flurry of Allegheny shots in the waning moments of the contest to clinch the victory.  

Allegheny will next travel to Rochester Institute of Technology for a 5 p.m. matchup against the Tigers on Saturday before opening the 2014 home campaign against Grove City at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 4.