Marian University got on the board in the early going and the Lakeland University men's soccer dropped a 2-0 decision Wednesday night at Taylor Field.

The Sabres won the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference battle of schools 45 minutes apart, defeating Lakeland for the third straight year and keeping the Muskies winless in conference play. Lakeland dropped to 3-10-1 overall and is now 0-5 in the NACC.

Marian (4-7-1 overall, 1-4 NACC) scored just 9 minutes, 27 seconds into the match when Cade Klusendorf served a free kick into the box that was headed three times, the last time by Chase Hayden into the net from five yards in front of the goal.

The Sabres' 1-0 lead lasted almost the rest of the match, with quality opportunities few and far between for both teams. Marian had the best opportunity to add on in the game's middle stages when Josiah Kusik had back-to-back shots in close, the first of which was blocked by Joseph Burkett (Fr.-Long Beach, Miss.) and the second headed away by defender Denver Roberts (So.-East Troy, Wis.) on the goal line.

Ryoto Kinoshita (Sr.-Kanagawa, Japan) had Lakeland's best chance in the second half when he turned from two defenders, dribbled into free space and put on a hard shot but right at Marian goalkeeper Kevin Cervantes.  The Sabres finally added an insurance goal with 3:40 left in the match when Brandon Mancini's cross from the left near the end line was headed in by Chris Nelson just out of the reach of Muskies keeper Alex VandenAvond (So.-Luxemburg, Wis.).

Marian finished with an 11-7 advantage in shot attempts including a 7-5 edge in shots on goal. Kinoshita led Lakeland with four shot attempts, three on goal.

VandenAvond made four saves in goal for the Muskies. Cervantes made five saves for the shutout for Marian.

The Muskies head on the road next when they travel to take on Dominican University on Saturday at noon in River Forest, Ill.