Poughkeepsie, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Soccer team returned to action on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 3-1 road decision at local foe Vassar. Junior Joey Dolan (New Paltz, N.Y.) scored the Mount's lone goal early in the opening period.
 
Dolan gave the Knights a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute when he potted his team leading second goal of the season. He converted his third career penalty kick at the 8:02 mark of the contest for the early one goal advantage.
 
The one goal edge held up for the Knights until the late stages of the first period when Vassar found the equalizer in the 37^th minute. Tanner Sands got the game even at 1-1 when he finished of a passing play off a free kick. Jose Novas and Tyler Gilmore assisted on the tying goal for the Brewers.
 
Vassar outshot Mount Saint Mary 11-4 prior to halftime and took four of the five corner kicks in the frame. Mount Saint Mary starting goalkeeper, Jakup Myrtja (Newburgh, N.Y.), stopped five shots in the opening 45 minutes.
 
The Brewers broke through with the game winning goal just over 10 minutes into the second half when Hayden Van Brewer buried a feed from Novas at 55:11. The Vassar lead grew to 3-1 when Mattie Mrlik  found the back of the net off a pass from Toby Stansell at the 67:52 mark of the contest.
 
Mount Saint Mary was outshot in the game 23-6, including 12-2 in the second half. The Brewers also held the edge in shots on goal 14-3 and corner kicks 12-2.
 
Myrtja finished with his five stops in the first half, while classmate Tyler Rapp (East Berne, N.Y.) came on to make six saves for the Knights in the second stanza. Matt Marcelino made a single stop in 76 minutes of work, with Luke Lefeber stopped one shot in the final 14 minutes for Vassar.
 
Sunday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 1-1 overall on the season heading into its 2017 home opener. The Knights will play host to Bard on Wednesday with kick-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Kaplan Field.