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FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Visiting Nazareth got first-half goals from senior Luke Elston and sophomore Ramez Al-Hebshi Tuesday to build an early advantage and the Golden Flyers held off a second-half surge by Fredonia to take a 2-1 non-conference victory in men's soccer.

The victory evened Nazareth's overall record at 3-3, while Fredonia dropped to 3-4. Nazareth opens its Empire 8 Conference schedule Saturday at Utica at 7 p.m.

The Golden Flyers played without their leading scorer in senior midfielder Ryan Foley, who was out with a knee injury. His status for this weekend is uncertain.

The Golden Flyers were outshot 14-6 overall and had an 8-3 disadvantage on corner kicks. They made the most of their opportunities, though, as Elston scored his first goal of the season in the 29th minute when he one-timed a shot from the right wing following a cross from freshman Lucas Bennett.

About eight minutes later, the Golden Flyers scored again as Al-Hebshi came off the bench to score his second goal of the season to give Nazareth a 2-0 lead.

Fredonia's intensity increased in the second half, particularly in the final 20 minutes, when the Blue Devils had six of their seven shots. The score, however, went unchanged until the 79th minute when Jay Dry converted a pass from Jake Persons. The Blue Devils had another chance later, but Nazareth freshman keeper Nate Ripic saved a shot by Josh Best with less than four minutes left.

Ripic finished with four saves to gain his second win.