Despite striking first, the No. 20 ranked Emory men's soccer team fell to the Belhaven Blazers, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon in their season opener. The game saw 12 cards issued, including a straight red card and a second yellow card on Emory early in the second half, forcing the Eagles to play much of this one down two players. Despite the loss, graduate transfer Ryan Winkler netted his first career goal as an Eagle on a goal assisted by junior Josh Grand.

Winkler struck early, capitalizing on a perfect pass from Grand inside the box to sneak one past the Belhaven keeper in the 8^th minute. The Eagles continued to take shots after the goal, looking for more. Yet, they could not find the back of the net.

As Emory continued to take shots, so did the Blazers. Junior Keirnan Skelly fended off the Blazers' attacks as long as he could, but they broke through in the 37^th minute. Belhaven's Devin Ryan struck first for the Blazers as he evened the game at one goal apiece. The Blazers weren't done yet, though, as they found a hole in the Emory defense again in the 44^th minute with Avery Anders netting a goal to take a 2-1 lead just before the half.

At the break, the teams were even at nine shots each with the Blazers holding a one goal lead.

Belhaven picked up right where they left off, though, coming out looking for more in the second half. In the 54^th minute, they picked up another goal when Koby Rhone sent one past the Emory defense and into the net to extend the lead to 3-1.

Shortly after the third Belhaven goal, the Eagles had a chance of their own when Grand sent another opportunistic cross into the box. Senior Hayden Binfield made a play on the ball but made contact with the goalkeeper in the process, leading to him being issued a straight red card for serious foul play and sent off by the head official. Less than two minutes later, Winkler picked up his first yellow for unsporting behavior before picking up another yellow for the same infraction just a few moments later as he was also sent off, leaving Emory short manned.

Playing two men up on the Eagles, the Blazers dominated the possession for the remainder of the game to keep any Emory comeback at bay. Belhaven coasted for the final 30 minutes to pull out a win over Emory, 3-1. Belhaven recorded 19 shots to Emory's 16 while also having a slight 4-3 edge in the corner kick battle.

The Eagles will look to bounce back on Monday evening when they take on the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels at the Woodruff P.E. Center at 7:00 PM.