The Bruins men's soccer team fell in another tough loss on their home field as Piedmont International University scored two late second-half goals to win 3-1. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 1-6 on the season.
"We played well for the first thirty minutes and the guys looked as though they could maintain a solid performance throughout," Bruins Head Coach Matt Hotchkin said. "We dropped off quickly and just lost our composure."
The Bruins were coming off a loss on Tuesday in which they fell to Columbia International University 4-2. This was the first time all season that the Bruins had lost by more than a one-goal margin. As they took the pitch in front of the fans at Alumni Stadium, they knew they would be in for a tough test as Piedmont International entered the game having won two of their last three games.
In the opening minutes, the Bruins came out strong as they possessed well and had great passing to create scoring chances. It didn't take long for the Bruins to break into the scoring column as Caleb Felber had a beautiful centering pass and David Dume re-directed it into the net to put the Bruins up 1-0 just under seven minutes into the game.
Just minutes later, PIU had their chance to equalize as Mario Salinas was fouled in the box and was awarded the PK. Bruins keeper Isaac Landry made a brilliant diving save to his left as he kept Piedmont off the board with BJU leading 1-0.
The Bruins came back on the attack as they were able to penetrate the PIU defense with Andrew Zhang and Peter Waddy getting shots on goal. With the half drawing to a close, the Bruins looked to go into the break with the lead. Instead, another foul in the box awarded Piedmont their second PK of the half. This time, they wouldn't be denied as Marco Diaz scored with just under a minute and a half to even the score 1-1 heading into halftime.
In the second half, both teams came out looking to take the lead. The match took a turn for the physical as both teams were awarded fouls with five cautions being given throughout the match. The Bruins caught a bad break in the 66th minute as a foul by Peter Waddy was followed by a caution, his second of the match, forcing the Bruins to play a man down for the remainder of the game.
With the man advantage, Piedmont turned up the offensive pressure as the Bruins struggled to keep pace. Still, Isaac Landry came up with several key saves to keep the score tied.
In the 76th minute of play, Piedmont took the lead as a header by Jorge Espinoza Dominquez gave PIU a 2-1 advantage. Now, the Bruins were back on their heels playing from behind and playing with a man down.
With just minutes to play, the Bruins came back trying to find the equalizer. Their efforts offensively left them undermanned on the defensive third and Piedmont capitalized as a late goal by Eukey Smallwood ended any chance of a comeback as PIU defeated BJU 3-1.
"Going down a man was difficult to overcome, but at that point it was a tie game and if anything we needed to work the game properly to either leave with a tie, or bait the other team into giving us opportunities to find a win," Coach Hotchkin said. "We won't quit and we will continue to focus on improvement. The guys are a special group of men and I am thankful to be able to work alongside them."
David Dume scored his second goal of the season for the Bruins while Isaac Landry made five saves in the match. Next up, the Bruins will welcome Pfieffer University on Tuesday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.
