The Ashland University men's soccer team saw a lot of the ball early in the game, but Ohio Dominican scored the winner in the 75th minute to take a 1-0 decision at Ferguson Field on Tuesday (Sept. 4) night.
The Eagles (0-2) had the best chance to score of the first half as junior John Duldner rose for a header in traffic in the 30th minute, but his effort banged high off the post, nearly sneaking in the upper 90.
In the second half, the Panthers (1-2) were able to get on the ball more often and held an 11-2 advantage in total shots. Their breakthrough came in the 75th minute when Jonathan Barnes came free in the box and tucked a shot just inside the near post.
The Eagles threatened a couple times on the counter in the final 15 minutes, but were not able to produce an equalizer.
"I thought we started the game really well with two of the best chances in the game in the first half," said AU head coach Oliver Slawson. "Credit to ODU, in the second half they got to another level. We're 0-2 and we have to find a way to bounce back, get these injured bodies back out there, cut out some of the mistakes for the weekend."
Senior keeper Nick Costa made eight saves for the Eagles, including a couple great stops to push away solid long-strike efforts by the Panthers. Robby Frye was called into action three times.
"We have to keep accentuating the positives we had in the game, the chances we had in the first half," said Slawson. "We'll let them know all our goals are still ahead of us and we'll go from there and find a way to win."
The Eagles will look to get in the win column on Saturday (Sept. 8) when they play host to Slippery Rock at Ferguson Field. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m.
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MSOC/BB