ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose men's soccer team was unable to find the back of the net this afternoon as visiting Southern Connecticut State University handed the Golden Knights a 2-0 setback in their Northeast-10 Conference opener at Albany Academies West Campus. A pair of second half tallies within the first 12 minutes were enough to allow the Owls (3-2/2-0 NE-10) to remain unbeaten in league play.

Southern sophomore midfielder Aazin Langroudi put the Owls in front for good in the 52nd minute when his shot from the right side of the penalty box found the inside of the far post. Langroudi, who entered the contest in the 30th minute, collected a drop pass from junior midfielder Patrick Carroll at the top of the penalty box and made two touches to his right before striking the ball far post, beating Saint Rose freshman keeper Patrik Ohlsson in the process.

Just under six minutes later, Southern struck again when junior midfielder Marino Crocco's blast from the right side hit the far post and crossed the goal plane to make it a 2-0 affair.

The Golden Knights (1-3/0-1 NE-10) applied pressure throughout and had two opportunities to find the equalizer, but freshman netminder Andrew Esposito was up to the task on each try for the Owls. Saint Rose senior forward Joe Hunt orchestrated both chances, including a one-on-one that was stopped by a sliding Esposito. Also, in the 75th minute Hunt's header off a corner by sophomore midfielder Liam Barrett was punched away.

Southern wound up with a slim 12-11 edge in shots, while both teams were awarded eight corners apiece in the game. Additionally, Esposito finished with eight saves to preserve the shutout and Ohlsson was called upon to stop three shots for the Golden Knights.

Saint Rose will travel to Southern New Hampshire on Saturday for a 1:00 pm conference match in Manchester, NH. The Owls return home Saturday for a 7:00 pm league encounter versus UMass Lowell.

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