PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Porter Gigstead (Fr.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) scored his third goal of the season but the Lakeland University men's soccer team fell behind early with the help of some bad luck and dropped a 3-1 decision to Ripon College in a non-conference match Thursday afternoon at Taylor Field.

Gigstead's goal in the 54th minute brought the Muskies within 2-1, but Lakeland was handicapped soon after that by a red card and eventually surrendered a final late goal to allow the Red Hawks (10-5 overall) to salt the game away. The Muskies lost the second half of back-to-back non-conference games and dropped to 4-11 overall.

One day after a 3-0 victory over Maranatha Baptist, Lakeland played mostly on even terms with a solid Ripon team. The Muskies fell behind in the 20th minute, though, on an unfortunate play as defender Omero Cornejo (Jr.-Carpentersville, Ill.) and goalkeeper Zach Heiman (Sr.-Racine, Wis.) collided while both converging on a playable ball. The two took each other out, allowing Red Hawks forward Seth Schroeder to easily corral the ball and put it in the net for a 1-0 lead.

Cornejo and Heiman were both down for a time and both would exit, though Cornejo would return later in the first half. The score would remain 1-0 to halftime as both teams substituted freely, but Ripon would strike quickly in the 50th minute. Schroeder beat a Lakeland defender down the right wing, then on the edge of the keeper's area crossed a pass to Andre Robertson, who in one motion drilled a shot from 13 yards out just out of the reach of Matt English (Sr.-Cheyenne, Wyo.) to make it 2-0.

The Muskies responded just over four minutes later, with Gigstead getting an attack started by stealing a pass near midfield. Gavin Pinchart (Sr.-De Pere, Wis.) then advanced the ball into the offensive end and Eduardo Campuzano (Jr.-Hinckley, Ill.) found Dirk Dell Adema (Jr.-Howards Grove, Wis.), who carried it inside the 18 and fed back to Gigstead trailing. Gigstead shook one defender, then with the left foot fired a shot out of the reach of Ripon goalkeeper Christian Hernandez and just inside the crossbar to cut the Red Hawks' lead to 2-1.

Lakeland faced a big hurdle just over two minutes later, though, when a red card was called after a hard tackle, putting the Muskies a man down the rest of the game. Despite the disadvantage, Lakeland still held possession a good deal of time over the final 30 minutes but could not score a tying goal, and Ripon scored some insurance when Nick Bellisle scored in the 78th minute, with his shot just off the fingertips of English.

English played the final 70:38 and made three saves, with Heiman also making one save. The teams finished in a 10-10 tie in shot attempts, with the Red Hawks posting a 7-3 lead in shots on goal. Campuzano led the Muskies with three shot attempts and Aldo Rangel (Fr.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) added two shots.

Lakeland is home again Saturday for its final home match of the season when it hosts Edgewood College at 1 p.m.