DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's soccer team (1-0) opened the 2009 season with a decisive 4-1 win over No. 24 William Carey (0-1), Sunday at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium. Head Coach David Gregson started five new faces in the starting line-up and the newcomers delivered, combining for two goals and two assists.

The Eagles had the better of the possession in the opening minutes of the contest, keeping the ball in the Crusaders' half of the field for much of the play. But it was William Carey who got on the board first as Medy Lourius capitalized on an Eagle miscue to put the Crusaders up 1-0 in the 22nd minute.

The Eagles equalized less than four minutes later when Alexis Pradie stepped up from his accustomed defensive position and took the ball through the heart of the Crusader defense. His pass found Ryan Maloney who took a couple of touches before striking a low, driven ball past outstretched William Carey goalkeeper Sean Mapson to pull the Eagles level at 1-1.

Neither team was able to score again in the first half, resulting in a 1-1 deadlock at the halftime break.

Embry-Riddle wasted little time in pulling ahead as the second goal came just over four minutes into the second frame. Ryan Woods started the play, bringing the ball down the middle of the field and his leading pass found Sam Litchfield on the run. Litchfield dribbled all the way to the end line before getting a cross off to Robin Rosen who buried his first shot of the season to put the Blue and Gold up 2-1.

ERAU Goalkeeper Viktor Bergstrand started the play that led to the Eagles' third goal with a quick outlet to Rosen on the left side. Rosen had plenty of room to work with and took the ball 30 yards up the field. Michael Donald , who was in the Eagles' 18-yard box on defense, used his pace to get back on offense and Rosen found him on the overlapping run. McDonald's cross went to Woods at the penalty spot and Wood took full advantage of his fourth shot of the game to extend the Embry-Riddle lead to 3-1.

Marco Harleman entered the contest with 5:09 left to play and, with 1:59 left on the clock, he settled a cross from Luke Baker and sealed the Eagle win with his first goal of the season.

Bergstrand finished with two saves on the night, while Mapson had six saves in the loss.

The Eagles' next game will be at 7 p.m. on Friday when they host Rollins at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium.