PLYMOUTH, Wis. – The Lakeland University men's soccer team recognized its lone senior but Grinnell College was the more opportunistic team in defeating the Muskies 3-1 Sunday afternoon in a non-conference match at Taylor Field.

The Muskies had several big opportunities to tie in the final minutes but the Pioneers held on and then added an insurance goal in the last minute to win an often entertaining first-ever matchup between the two programs. Lakeland dropped to 3-8-3 overall while Midwest Conference-leading Grinnell improved to 9-4-1.

The Muskies honored senior Alessandro Bianchi (Venice, Italy) at halftime of the match, the four-year member of the team the only senior on the Lakeland roster. The Muskies trailed 1-0 at the break after a Grinnell goal by Sam Heller in the 37th minute, but play was just beginning to heat up as the teams went up and down the field the second 45 minutes.

The Pioneers took a 2-0 lead just over ten minutes into the second half when Caleb Hoereth headed in a free kick by Dylan Maddux, but Lakeland answered to cut the lead in half when Jordan Davis-Troller (Fr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) took advantage of a bobble by the Grinnell goalkeeper to score his third goal of the season.

Both teams had premium opportunities in the second half, with some of the Muskies' best coming in the final minutes in a late rush. A corner kick by Kidus Samson (Jr.-San Francisco, Calif.) in the 84th minute went to Joseph Reyes (Jr.-Pico River, Calif.), whose header in traffic hit off the crossbar.

Davis-Troller also had a shot in the 87th minute that was stopped, and Lakeland was on the attack again just over 30 seconds later with Michecadet Gethand (Jr.-Jackson, Wis.) on a run to the doorstep of the left post, but Grinnell keeper Jayson Kunkel cut off his angle and stopped the shot on the ground.

The Muskies pushed up in the final two minutes and Grinnell capitalized, with Maddux feeding ahead to Noah Guyton, who took several dribbles and was one-on-one with goalkeeper Carson Galla (Jr.-Deerfield, Wis.) before scoring with 45 seconds left in the match.

Both teams finished with 12 shot attempts in the match, including 17 of the combined 24 shots coming in the second half. The Pioneers posted a narrow 8-7 edge in shots on goal.

Suleiman Haji (Jr.-Mankato, Minn.) led Lakeland with three shot attempts with Gethand and Davis-Troller adding two shots each. Ben Taylor (So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) made two saves in goal in the first half while Galla made three saves in the second half.

Lakeland returns to Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play for its final three matches of the season, with its next coming Wednesday on the road at Marian University in Fond du Lac at 7 p.m.