STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – A late strike from 24 yards out, sunk Baron soccer's comeback hopes as FUS lost to Westminster College in a tightly contested 4-3 game. Franciscan scored two goals in the middle of the second half to overcome a 3-1 deficit but fell a few plays short of securing a win.

"What we talk about a lot is the self-confidence to know you're doing the right things and the guys are really getting that," head coach Ward Rogers said. "Sometimes we're staying on the ball too long and we're not making that last little pass that really breaks them down."

After going up 1-0 ten minutes into the game off of a Mark Allen header, FUS let up three unanswered goals, finding themselves down 3-1 with 37 minutes left. In the next few minutes the Titans continued to control the game until sophomore forward John Imbimbo fired a shot from outside the penalty box that buried itself into the right side netting.

One minute later freshman forward Joe Duran got pushed in the back inside the box, setting up a potentially game-tying penalty kick. Imbimbo took the PK and once again the ball found its way into the right side of net, tying the score at 3-3.

"For us to have the patience and faith in our system to come back was really good," Rogers said. "This is one of the stronger games we've played but those were two great shots that beat us in the second half."

The shot that sealed the win for Westminster came in the seventy-eighth minute. A good clearance from defensive substitute Joe Francis on a counterattack was picked up by a trailing Titan who put a strong, curving shot into the upper left corner to take the lead for good.

In the second half Westminster took advantage of a Baron defense that lost its starting central defender and defensive leader Jace Vansteenburg to injury. Not only did FUS lose one of the key players in organizing their defense's shape, but due to another injury, were left without an obvious replacement for Vansteenburg.

"Jace has been so solid in the middle for us that we haven't trained anyone to specifically replace him," Rogers said. "Michael Ostrich can spell the center backs but he was injured so when we brought someone into the center back spot it was someone who hasn't been playing there for a while."

Despite the loss, Rogers said he was happy with how is team played, particularly midfielders Brian Bobak, Cuyler Ledyard, Mark Allen and forward Joe Duran.

"Our style of play has really picked up and I think we're starting to get somewhere with the focus that we're trying to drive," Rogers said. "It's a learning process and we're coming."

The Barons have one last game before the start of conference play. They host Washington & Jefferson College on September 25 at 5 pm before traveling to conference foe Penn St. – Behrend, September 28.