Box Score

The Spalding University men's Soccer team suffered a 2-1 loss at Transylvania University on Saturday afternoon. With the result, SU falls to 4-5-0 on the season after losing their third straight.

The two teams battled through the first half but neither team was able to find the back of the net. Spalding's best chances came when Jorge Hernandez bent a shot into the goalkeepers hands and when Joey Lesher's shot from distance was collected by the TU goalkeeper. Logan Spencer made two saves for Spalding in the first half.

Just ten minutes into the second half, Spalding would strike first. After a punt from Spencer went down the field, Abdullahi Abdullahi would flick the ball on and Julio De Leon would collect it. After taking a touch, De Leon blasted the ball into the top-right corner from 25 yards out. It was De Leon's second goal of the season.

In the aftermath of the goal, SU's Micah Arrington would be controversially sent off. The midfielder was handed a straight red card for an exchange with a Transy player, reducing Spalding to ten men for the final half hour.

The Golden Eagles would buckle down defensively and withstood several TU attempts at goal before surrendering the lead at the 68:45 mark. The Pioneer's Luke Dehner played a through ball to Kyle Smith and the forward tucked it home to tie the game at 1-1.

Spalding would have the ball cleared off the Transy goal line after Mohamed Musa took a corner kick with just under fifteen minutes to play. But it was Transy who would capitalize on a corner, Evan Sizemore thumping home a header from ten yards out after Conner Clark's service to put Transy on top 2-1. Spalding had a couple chances in the waning moments of the game but were unable to tie the score.

"What a great game of soccer today," SU Head Coach Adam Boyer commented after the game. "Both teams really went at it this afternoon and I thought the level of play from both sides was fantastic. It's a shame the referee felt it was necessary to put his stamp on this contest. I don't Iike to point fingers but today the officials got it wrong."

"I am very proud of the guys performance today. Even down a man, their self-belief was always intact and they gave themselves a chance to win against a first-class opponent. Again, a reminder of what this group is capable of and it seems we're hitting our form right as conference is set to begin," he finished.

On the day, Spalding was outshot by Transy 10-6 and TU had a 9-5 advantage in corner kicks. All three goals in the game were scored in the final thirty minutes of play.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to Danville, Kentucky to take on Centre College. This is Spalding's final non-conference match of the season. Kick-off is set for 7:00pm and live updates can be found on Twitter at @Spalding_Soccer.