The Lions mens' soccer team (3-9-2) stayed with 10th ranked Elizabethtown College Blue Jays (10-1-1) for the first 66 minutes of their non-conference game on Saturday night, but eventually fell short in a 2-0 loss.
Lions junior goalkeeper Shawn Mecchi withstood five shots in the first half without allowing a goal. The Blue Jays' pressure in the second half yielded two shots past Mecchi.
"We were happy that we were able to come out and hold such a good team off of the scoreboard," sophomore forward Ryan McMann said. "We thought we could compete with them."
The Lions could not hold the Blue Jays off. The first goal of the game was scored at 67:24 by Elizabethtown's sophomore forward Will Ellerman. Ellerman, a substitute in the game, scored off of a pass from senior midfielder Brian Albrecht. Less than six minutes later, the lead was extended to 2-0 as junior Tim Filewicz, another Blue Jay subsitute, scored at 72:59 with an assist by sophomore forward Andrew Kummerer.
The Lions only managed four shots against Elizabethtown's senior goalkeeper Michael Ciattei, who made two saves for the shutout. Ciattei has not lost since starting as goalkeeper, allowing only three goals all season. His record improved to 9-0-1.
The loss puts the Lions losing streak at four games. Their offense especially has been stifled lately. They have not seen the opponents' net in the last 332 minutes of game play, including three consecutive shutouts.
"We just have to finish the chances we get," McMann said, who scored the Lions' last goal on Oct. 1. "We haven't been able to put away the shots we've gotten, which has basically been the difference between us and the teams that have beaten us."
Rangers 2, Lions 0
Earlier in the week, the College was shutout, 2-0, by the visiting Drew University Rangers. The Rangers improved their undefeated streak to five games, as they moved their record to 8-1-2 on the season in non-conference games.
Drew's first goal was scored by freshman midfielder Matt Sidie less than 35 minutes into the game. Sidie was a recipient of a corner kick off sophomore midfielder Craig Nimick, one of the Rangers' five corner kicks. The College was able to go into halftime down only 1-0 thanks to five saves in the first half by junior goalkeeper Rich Adams.
The College's deficit remained at one goal until a penalty called against them gave Drew University's junior defender Michael Jacobson a penalty kick.
Jacobson took advantage of the foul, as he scored past Adams at 62:00 to extend the Ranger lead to 2-0. The game was essentially over after that, as the Lions could only muster one shot in the second half.
The Rangers outshot the Lions 14-5 during the course of the game. The two losses this week did not affect the Lions' New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) record, which currently stands at 1-2-2.
Upcoming Game
The College's next game is an NJAC match at Rowan University tonight at 7 p.m. The game at Rowan will be the first of four NJAC games to end the regular season.
