BERMUDA RUN, N.C.— The Montreat men's soccer team started slowly during its match on Saturday night at Carolina University, contributing to a 3-1 Bruins victory and the Cavaliers' first loss of the 2021 season.
Carolina scored just 36 seconds into the match on a through ball from Francisco Tapia to Mario Salinas. Montreat goalkeeper
Jesus Ramos managed to get his fingertips onto the Salinas shot, but the senior midfielder's strike had enough pace to find its way into the net.
Less than two minutes later, the Bruins struck again. Off a long ball from the midfield, Luke Spillane-Davis found himself one-on-one with Ramos. Spillane-Davis converted, and Carolina held a 2-0 lead.
"I am very disappointed with our performance tonight," said Montreat men's soccer head coach
Michael Bruce. "We took too long to get into our rhythm, and it cost us the game tonight."
The Bruins weren't done there. Salinas nearly made the score 3-0, but Ramos stood tall and made a critical save to keep the Cavaliers in the match.
Montreat found its way into the game from there, and the Cavaliers wound up on the scoresheet in the 24
thminute.
William Stallworth made a strong run down the right side of the pitch, and it was his ball into a dangerous area in the box that set up
Carlos Hernandez's first goal of the season. Hernandez powered home the loose ball and halved the Cavalier deficit.
Leading 2-1 at the halftime break, the Bruins wanted more. In the 66
th minute, they restored their two-goal advantage. Salinas' pass set up Spillane-Davis in space, who was able to snag his second goal of the match by slotting his shot just inside the left post beyond the outstretched Ramos.
Trailing 3-1, the Cavaliers had chances to close the gap—they held an 8-2 advantage on corners throughout the night but just couldn't find enough connections in the box.
Down a man following a red card in the 74
th minute, the Cavaliers attack failed to find the breakthrough, and the Bruins saw the match out to its 3-1 final.
With the defeat, the Cavaliers dropped to 1-1 on the season. Carolina improved to 2-1 on the year with the victory.
Coach Bruce noted, "I hope we learn from this experience, and we will come back stronger for the start of conference play next week."
The Cavaliers will be back in action next Saturday, Sept. 11, for the start of Appalachian Athletic Conference play at Truett McConnell University.
