FOR RELEASE
2011-08-22
Huntington, Ind. - It wasn’t exactly how the Forester men’s soccer squad envisioned their home opener going as they dropped a 5-2 decision to the University of St. Francis (Ill.) on Monday afternoon.
Early jitters seemed to get the best of the home team as St. Francis scored three of their goals in the first nine minutes of play behind the dominate footwork of Victor Trujillo who assisted the Fighting Saints’ first goal and then scored two of his own all within a five-minute span. They went on to tally two more before the half’s end to take a commanding 5-0 lead by intermission.
After regrouping at halftime, HU went into attack mode to find the back of the net twice in the first 20 minutes to trim the lead to three. Junior Adam Christner, making his debut on the soccer field, slotted one past the keeper in the 54th minute on an assist from freshman Todd Canal.
Less than 15 minutes later freshman Sam Thompson scored his first collegiate goal when he pushed forward on a restart, challenging the goalie in the air before coming down with it for an easy tap in. But it proved to be too big of a gap as the Foresters would get no closer.
“I was extremely disappointed with our effort through the majority of the first half,” said Coach Lawson. “Once we settled down with about ten minutes to go in the first half, I thought we controlled the ball well. The second half of the game was encouraging and definitely gives us something to build on.”
The Fighting Saints outshot the Foresters 16-8. HU keepers Drew Mattingly and Chris Fox split time at goal recording four and two saves respectively. The 0-1 Foresters travel to Rochester Hills, Michigan, on Wednesday to take on Rochester College for a 2:00 p.m. kick-off.
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