Box Score ERIE, Pa. – The Franciscan men's soccer team dropped a close 2-0 decision to host Penn State Behrend, Saturday afternoon as the two teams played through Hurricane Joaquin.
The loss drops the Barons to 4-6-1 on the year and 1-2 in the league while Penn State Behrend improves to 9-1-1 overall and 3-0 in the AMCC.
The Barons and Lions battled in a tight first half as FUS limited Penn State Behrend to just nine shots, six on goal and the two teams went into the break knotted at 0-0.
"The game wasn't too lopsided, we just gave up a couple of goals on nice plays," remarked head Coach Ward Rogers.
Franciscan continued to play tight defense into the second half and senior keeper Edward Huber made two nice saves to open the second frame. After a shot from sophomore Leo Herrmann went high, the Lions gained possession and took the ball into their offensive zone. Nick Stewart sent a through ball through the right side of the box to Matt Dziadosz who shot it from left to right into the back of the net to give the host's 1-0 in the 56th minute.
Rogers continued, "we didn't really generate a lot of chances. We took a lot of shots, but they got deflected so we need to shoot more. Probably one of the best games we played against them. We didn't let them get into some of their normal channels. We still let them have a little too much in the midfield but our defense had some really nice plays that didn't let [the Lions] hurt us."
As the two teams played more aggressive, the Barons got a yellow card which led to a penalty kick for the Lions. Huber made a stop to keep the score 1-0 with 26:44 to play in regulation.
Huber made another nice stop in the net with 5:26 to play but the Lions drew a foul and were awarded another PK just 2:18 later. Stewart shot it to the low right hand corner for the score and the 2-0 lead.
Coach Rogers was happy with how the defense played but recognizes there is still some work to be done on the offensive side of the ball. "If we can keep the midfield and defenders playing the way we played to today and generate something a little more dangerous on the attack, we will be in good shape. We are developing the space, we just aren't using it."
"At this point in the season there is a lot of soccer left to play. If we continue to play the way we are playing, we will win games coming down the stretch."
The Barons will look to put it all together as they host Penn State Altoona on Wednesday at 2:00 pm.
