The Master's University defense was under heavy pressure Thursday at Vanguard.
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The host Lions pounded away at the Mustangs from late afternoon into early evening, posting a jaw-dropping 27 shots, 12 of those on goal.
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Mustang goalie
Price Anderson, who made a career-high 11 saves, and his teammates held on for only so long.
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Something had to give and it did in the match's 86th minute when Vanguard's Andrew Robles beat Anderson with a shot in to the right side of the net that proved to be the game-winner in a 1-0 victory in the GSAC opener for both clubs.
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"Vanguard plays very direct soccer, and it was harder to deal with than we had hoped," said TMU head coach
Jim Rickard. "They put us under a lot of pressure, and we held up until late in the game."
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The loss snapped the Mustangs' four-game winning streak. The Mustangs are 5-4-1 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
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Anderson was up to the task in the first half and well into the second stanza. The Mustangs managed nine shots, two of those on goal.
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The club's leading scorer,
Dylan Bielanski, put a shot on goal at the 18:03 mark of the opening half, but Lion goalie Victor Negrete made the save.
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Negrete preserved the victory when he saved a shot by Mustang
Luis Garcia Sosa with 1:05 left to play.
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The Mustangs will have to wait a week now to get a chance to rebound from the loss. Â
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They'll return to Reese Field on October 10 to host William Jessup.
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"We're disappointed to be 0-1 in conference," said Rickard, "but it's behind us now and we need to look ahead."
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