LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – The Saint Joseph's men's soccer team was unable to overcome an early three-goal deficit as the Hawks fell to Siena by a final score of 4-1 on Wednesday evening at the Siena Turf Field. With the loss, SJU stands at 1-2-3 overall.

Freshman midfielder Eric Jordan recorded his first collegiate goal in the 79th minute. The tally came off of an assist from sophomore midfielder Tim Lazorko.

Siena (3-2) did not waste any time getting on the scoreboard as the Saints scored on the very first play of the game. David Itoafa launched a long pass down the right side of the field to Nathan Olukanmi, who crossed the ball in to Alex Portela. Portela shot the ball past redshirt senior goalkeeper Andrew D'Ottavi to put the Saints up 1-0 at the 4:31 mark of the first half.

The Saints struck again just under five minutes later. Set up with the first corner kick opportunity of the match for either side, Edmundo Briones found Danilo Markovic, who headed the ball to Matt Needham. Needham tapped the ball into the inside far post to give the Saints the 2-0 advantage.

Siena would tack on another goal, this time off the foot of Itoafa, in the 12th minute to take an early 3-0 lead. In the first 19 minutes of the match, Siena outshot Saint Joseph's 5-0, landing four of those shots on goal.

The Hawks then saw a trio of offensive opportunities from the rookies of the squad that began with the Philadelphia Soccer Six Player of the Week, senior midfielder Jimmy Reilly. In the 20th minute, Reilly took SJU's first shot of the game but saw it deflected by Siena's back line to give the Hawks a corner kick. Reilly took the corner and found freshman midfielder Mike Stuski, who had subbed in for Brian Reynolds. Stuski attempted a header but saw it saved through deflection by Siena's Adam Myers. SJU was rewarded with another corner kick off the deflection. Reilly found freshman forward Mori Diane, who had subbed in for Lazorko and also took a header attempt on goal, but his shot went wide. Jordan saw a good look at the goal in the 29th minute but fired wide.

Siena's Matt Needham scored his second tally of the match in the 61st minute to extend the Saints' lead to 4-0.

For the game, the squads were even in shots and fouls, 17-17 in each category, while Siena held an 8-6 advantage in shots on goal.

SJU saw numerous Hawks hit season-high minutes, including redshirt junior Jake Mulinge and freshman Coupar Lipp, who each saw 73 minutes on the defensive end.

D'Ottavi (1-2-3) took the loss between the pipes, allowing three goals in 45:00.

Freshman goalkeeper Jay Higbee started the second half of the match to see 45:00 in his collegiate debut. Siena wasted no time pressuring the rookie and fired off a shot just 19 seconds into the half, but Higbee made his first collegiate save on the play. Higbee finished the match with three saves and one goal allowed.

Freshman defender Chris McCrea saw 14 minutes in his collegiate debut, checking in for Brendan Reilly in the 77th minute. Sophomore Mike Serban saw 31 minutes off the bench in the midfield in his season debut.

The Hawks will look to bounce back this Saturday, September 21 to host Cornell. Game time is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Sweeney Field.