CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Concord University men's soccer team battled valiantly against nationally-ranked Charleston Wednesday night in a Mountain East Conference contest at the Welch Athletic Complex, but fell 2-1.
Concord (4-1-1, 4-1-1 MEC) came into the contest ranked 15
th in Division II while UC (7-0-1, 5-0-1 MEC) held a national ranking of fourth.
After a first half that only featured nine shots, the offense picked up in the second half. Charleston only needed nine minutes to score after halftime as the Golden Eagles went up 1-0 in the 54
th minute off a header.
However, CU was unfazed by the deficit as it scored in the 60
th minute.
After winning possession in the midfield, sophomore forward
Ignacio Alvarez Maina flipped a pass onto junior forward
Richard Henry whose shot from the middle part of the 18-yard box beat the goalkeeper inside the right post.
Junior goalkeeper
Miguel Oliveria kept consecutive shots out of the goal with two saves in a 10-second span in the 71
st minute. And a UC free kick from just outside the penalty area went high in the 84
th minute.
The Concord backline of junior
Kai Forsyth, junior Eric Lotysz, sophomore
Zakari Messam and junior
Ted Roberts along with Oliveria kept the game tied, despite UC outshooting Concord 18-5, until a Charleston goal in the 88
th minute.
Henry took four of the five shots in the game for the Mountain Lions. Junior forward
Malher Santi Possu provided a second-half shot.
Oliveria saved five shots on the night.
The Mountain Lions return home to take on Frostburg State 3:30 p.m. Sunday in an MEC game at Callaghan Stadium.
