The Bison men’s soccer team dropped to 1-1 for the season after a 2-0 road loss to Saint Francis on Sept. 2.

The Bison were close to entering halftime with the score knotted at zero when the Red Flash managed to secure two goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Following the offensive outburst, the Orange and Blue struggled to rebound from the deficit.

Saint Francis scored their first goal in the 35th minute of a combination play, resulting in a long-range effort by Lucas Rosa. The opposition beat Bison goalkeeper Ryan Ott ’19 with a shot that nestled in the top corner.

The second goal proved to be devastating, as the Bison conceded a penalty kick when Bison defender Quinn Bredin ’20 got tangled up in the box with a Saint Francis forward. Mario Mastrangelo buried the penalty kick for the Red Flash, raising his goal total to two on the season.

The Bison were under constant pressure all afternoon as the Red Flash mustered 19 shots in total, six of which came on goal, compared to the Bison’s five shots, with only one coming on goal. Ott came up with four saves for the Bison while the Red Flash keeper turned away the one shot he faced.

The game became more physical as time wore on. Both teams committed a combined 24 fouls, resulting in five yellow cards.

“With Sunday’s loss, we try to turn the page and start to focus on our next game, but also take away as much as we can from Saint Francis. Definitely a very talented team who moved the ball well,” Ott said. “As a team, we hope to bring a more all-around defensive effort going into Friday.”

The Orange and Blue will look to rebound as they play Canisius at home on Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. The Bison hope to get off to a good start and improve their record to 2-1 against the 1-2 Golden Griffins, who entered the season as preseason favorites in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.