Having lost three of its last four matches, The Master's University men's soccer team was looking for a turnaround effort against Menlo on Thursday afternoon with the 2017 season entering the home stretch.
Instead, the host Oaks dealt the Mustangs a damaging blow, scoring twice in the second half to pull away from TMU 3-1. The loss dropped the Mustangs to 4-4 in GSAC play and 9-5-2 overall.
"We played well at times but didn't have the consistency that we have had over the season," said TMU coach Jim Rickard. "Menlo's pressure and our lack of composure on the ball hurt us, as well."
The match got off to an inauspicious for the Mustangs as Menlo's Eric Hegmann scored just 12 seconds into play.
However, the Mustangs got that one back just over three minutes later when Daniel Smith scored for the third time in as many matches, pushing the ball past Oaks' goalie Juan Mendoza at the 3:24 mark. Luis Garcia-Sosa and Benjamin Tembo assisted on Smith's fourth goal of the season.
Then, just as quickly, both offenses went silent as the defenses took over the rest of the half. The Mustangs had a couple of opportunities to unlock the tie, but Mendoza stopped shots by Tembo (10:34) and Leonardo Anjos (12:21) for his only saves of the stanza.
Then, over the final 45 minutes, Menlo assaulted the Mustang net with seven shots on goal. Two of those found their way into the net. Eight minutes into the second half, Hegmann scored the go-ahead goal and then at the 79:23 mark, Evan Snodgrass added an insurance tally that put the match away.
The Mustangs put three shots on the Menlo goal in the second stanza, but Mendoza turned back efforts from Anjos, Garcia-Sosa and Trevor Mangan.
"Today's loss really hurt our potential playoff seeding hopes," Rickard said.
After starting 3-0 in conference play, the Mustangs have now dropped four of their last five matches and are in fourth place in the GSAC with two matches remaining.
The first of those will be played on Saturday when the Mustangs conclude their final road trip of the regular season at William Jessup in Rocklin.
