The Bruins soccer team was on the road on Tuesday night as the team looked to win their fourth match in a row. Unfortunately, the Montreat College Cavaliers had other plans as they scored a goal in each half to defeat BJU 2-0. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 4-9 on the season.
"Montreat is a solid team and they have a lot more experience on their roster than we do," Bruins Head Coach Matt Hotchkin said. "Having said that, I thought our last 20 minutes of the game were pretty good and showed that our guys wouldn't quit."
The Bruins came into the game on a hot streak having won three games in a row and having outscored their opponents 12-2 in that stretch. The Cavs came into the game having won five of their last six games. It was senior night for the Cavaliers as the two teams took the pitch.
In the opening minutes, the two teams tried to establish possession with the Cavs using their speed of play to create shots on frame. Goalkeeper Isaac Landry made a couple of saves for the team as the Bruins defense began to match the speed and intensity of the Cavs.
Offensively, the Bruins were able to work the ball into the attacking third, but struggled to maintain consistent possession as the team was only able to create one shot on goal in the first half.
With under 10 minutes to play in the first half, the Bruins continued to keep the Cavs at bay with the score tied 0-0. That tie changed in the 38th minute of play as Carlos Hernandez put the Cavs on the board with a goal to make it 1-0. The Bruins tried to answer back but went into halftime with the one goal deficit.
In the second half, the Bruins came out looking to increase their possession rate in the attacking third. Unfortunately, the Cavaliers stopped any momentum the Bruins had gathered as Andre Dinca scored a goal just over two minutes into the second half to give Montreat a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins refused to quit and came right back looking to find the back of the net. The team was able to create several scoring chances with Jordan Crews and Jesse Rush able to get shots on frame that were saved by Cavs' keeper Kevin Gonzalez.
With just over five minutes remaining, the Bruins had another chance as Sebastian Sulik was able to get back to back shots in the box but again the team couldn't score. The Cavs looked to close out the Bruins and got another scoring opportunity as the team was awarded a PK with just two minutes to play.
Fransisco Prado took the PK duties and fired a low shot but Isaac Landry was up to the task as he blocked the ball away. On the rebound, Raphael Duarte took another shot which bounced off the opposite post before Landry pounced on the ball to make the save. As the final buzzer sounded, the Bruins couldn't mount a comeback as the team fell to Montreat College 2-0.
The Cavaliers out shot the Bruins 26-7 in the match with an on goal margin of 14-5. Isaac Landry made 12 saves for the Bruins as the team falls to 4-9 on the season. Next up, the Bruins will be on the road again on Friday night as the team faces Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
