STEUBENVILLE, Oh.—The Franciscan University men's soccer team took on Penn State-Behrend today in their first AMCC (Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference) game of the season. Despite improved efforts to solidify their offensive performance, the Barons struggled to maintain ball control and ultimately fell to the Lions, 7-0.

Although several turnovers in the second half led to the defeat for the Barons, the first half showed solid offensive improvement in the form of increased passing accuracy, and on-field communication.

"We were playing better in that first half than we have played all season," head coach Ward Rogers said, "Now the formation is where it needs to be, but passing speed and accuracy still need to improve. We need four to five completed passes to be able to find the open shot."

In an attempt to gain offensive speed, Rogers moved defender Peter Herrmann to center forward, which helped Baron transitions but added pressure to the defense. Rogers noted that while defensive recovery needs to be faster, defender John Herrmann rose to the challenge aided by midfielders Jace Vansteenburg, Edwin de St. Aubin, and Jesse Saltarelli.

With a glimpse at success through the performance of the first half, Franciscan men look forward to furthering their offensive progress in their next game at the University of Pitt-Greensburg this Tuesday, September 22, at 4pm.