Tyson Carter (
Fr.-Yakima, Wash.) made 13 saves and the Lakeland University men's soccer team gave another perennial Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference contender a tough time in falling to Concordia University Wisconsin 3-1 Wednesday night at Taylor Field.
The Muskies played from behind most of the way but were within striking distance much of the night and made the Falcons work for everything throughout. Lakeland played well even in defeat against one of the conference's best teams and lost by two goals or less for the fifth time this season.
Concordia (7-5-1 overall, 4-2-1 NACC) outshot the Muskies 26-7 and also finished with a 16-0 margin in corner kicks. The Falcons frequently put on pressure, but Lakeland (3-11 overall, 0-7 NACC) just as regularly dug in and kept CUW from scoring.
Concordia did score the opening goal 15 minutes, 58 seconds into the match when Simon Da-Silva assisted on Cristian Tyrpak's sixth goal of the season. The Falcons added a second goal just over 10 minutes later with Zach Gyuricza finding the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
The Muskies got right back within a goal less than four minutes later, though.
Armando De Luna (
Fr.-Yuma, Ariz.) did the dirty work on the front line, getting to the ball with his pass deflected but going to
Ryoto Kinoshita (
Jr.-Kanagawa, Japan), who from the left side of the box put it in the right back corner of the net to make it 2-1.
That score held into halftime and well into the second half, even with the Falcons holding a 13-2 lead in shot attempts at the break. The Muskies put the guests on the defensive for a time early in the second half, with
Alex Kelly (
Fr.-Plymouth, Wis.) unleashing a shot wide of the goal in the first minute and
John Bentler (
Jr.-Seattle, Wash.) and Kinoshita also both having chances over the next 10 minutes.
Concordia had the best opportunity, though, less than three minutes into the half. Carter made an initial save on a shot from close in before the rebound shot went right at a Muskie in front of the goal for a handball, giving the Falcons a penalty kick. Dagoberto Diaz took the kick and aimed left, but Carter dove and turned it away for his fourth PK stop of the season.
Concordia finally broke through again in the 70th minute. Gyuricza received it on the left side 15 yards out and centered to Diaz, who shot quickly and scored for his fourth goal of the season and a 3-1 lead.
Carter made six saves in the first half and seven more in the second, with defenders including
Denver Roberts (
Fr.-East Troy, Wis.),
Carson Teske (
Jr.-Sheboygan, Wis.) and
Kyaw Aye Ye (
Fr.-Milwaukee, Wis.) among those on the backline also clearing a number of corner kicks and attempts by the Falcons.
Bentler finished with three shots attempts to lead the Muskies offensively and also was active around the field, while Kinoshita also added two shots. Diaz paced Concordia with five shot attempts, and Falcons goalkeeper Nate Yeager made two saves to get the win.
Lakeland is back home again Saturday when it hosts Aurora University for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, part of a Taylor Field tripleheader that also includes the Muskies' football game against Rockford University at 1 p.m. plus the Lakeland and Aurora women's soccer teams squaring off at 5 p.m.
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