The #25-ranked Dickinson men’s soccer team got their season off to a rough start, falling to the visiting College of New Jersey, 5-1, in their first match of the season on Friday night, September 2 at Dickinson Park and playing to a tie with Hobart College on Saturday, September 3.

The Red Devils and the Lions each had good chances to score early, but neither was able to gain the edge until the Lions struck first, netting a goal in the 25th minute to take a 1-0 lead. They extended the margin to 2-0 later in the first period, finding the net with just 5 minutes remaining until the half. New Jersey scored again about 20 minutes into the second half, making the deficit 3-0 with just under 30 minutes remaining in regulation.

The Red Devils managed to end the shutout as Will Bracken ’18 found the net, cutting the deficit to 3-1, with just under 20 minutes left.

The Red Devils had a couple of tough breaks in the final minutes as the Lions scored on a penalty kick in the 77th minute and an errant header on a corner kick led to an own goal in the final minutes for a final score of 5-1.

Despite being outscored, Dickinson held the advantage in shots, 15-12, and had a 7-2 edge in corners on the night. In the goal, Jake Nesteruk ’17 made seven saves while Jeremy Palcan ’17 had 5.

The Red Devils’ match against Hobart was a neck-and-neck physical battle throughout, with seven cards being issued over the course of the night. Both squads played hard and were able to create some strong scoring chances, but the defenses proved too stingy to permit any scoring.

Hobart outshot Dickinson 15-11 but only managed to put six on goal and Palcan saved every one. Both Bracken and Matt Edmonds ’18 had a shot at the goal but couldn’t get anything past the Statesmen goalie, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie after 110 minutes of play.

The Red Devils record stands at 0-1-1 after their first week of play. They travel to Oneonta, New York next weekend to face SUNY Oneonta on Friday and RPI on Saturday.