ROCHESTER -- The SUNY Canton men's soccer dropped a 4-1 decision to Nazareth College on Saturday afternoon in Rochester in the opening round of the Doug May Classic.

The game was played on familiar territory for second-year head coach Mark Howlett who spent three years prior to joining SUNY Canton as an assistant coach at Nazareth. Howlett knows first-hand how talented the Golden Flyers are and was happy with the way his team competed,

"I thought we played extremely well today and I was proud of the effort our guys gave," said Howlett. "We continue to improve as individuals and a team and are jelling as a unit every day. We're facing some tough teams early on in our schedule and we have to just keep growing and coming together."

After falling behind by a 1-0 deficit early in the contest, the Roos battled back and tied the game in the 27th minute when freshman Erik Whitcombe (Ogdensburg, N.Y.) connected for his first collegiate goal off an assist from fellow freshman Francesco Cardillo (Tonawanda, N.Y.).

The Golden Flyers went back ahead five minutes later held the one-goal margin at halftime.

Whitcombe had a great opportunity to tally his second score of the day but his rising shot in the 54th minute was stopped by Nazareth keeper Kyle Connolly.

Nazareth pumped in two more goals 62 and 80th minutes of play for the final score.

Homero Flores (Tamaulipas, Mexico) had four saves in goal for the Roos (0-2) as he replaced starter Sankung Sillah (Bronx, N.Y.) in the 28th minute of the contest. Sillah finished with one save.

Luke Elston had two goals to pace Nazareth.

The Roos take on RIT in the tournament's second day on Sunday starting at 2 p.m.