The Master's men's soccer team suffered their first conference loss of the season on the road against the Vanguard Lions Saturday in Costa Mesa, Calif.
One goal in the 50th minute was all it took for the Lions to get the 1-0 win, but it was the entire 90 minutes that frustrated Head Coach Jim Rickard.
"We were off our game from the whistle," Rickard said. "We seemed too accustomed to having a bunch of home games and had a hard time functioning today. We were fortunate to be down 1-0 late and had chances in the last crazy minutes of the game, but couldn't find anyone to step up and finish. I give credit to Vanguard for playing a solid game, but it's very disappointing to not be at our best."
Those "last crazy minutes of the game" saw The Mustangs (6-3-3, 2-1-1 GSAC) get off four shots and two corners in the final four minutes. Shots by
Theo Kudlo,
Caden Zierenberg and
Giorgio Martino were either saved by Lions goalie Alex Felix or blocked by defenders.
The Mustangs could not get a shot off at all in the first half, but peppered the Vanguard net-minder 11 times in the second half. Kudlo finished with four shots,
Prince Chingancheke had three, with both Martino and Zierenberg firing off two.
The Master's will hit the road once again for their game against Hope International in Fuklerton, Calif. next Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
