LOUISVILLE – The University of Evansville men's soccer team fell in their season opener, dropping a 3-2 decision at Bellarmine on Thursday night.
Opening the season against the Knights for the sixth consecutive season, the Aces put up a pair of shots in the third minute but were unable to put a shot on target. In the eighth minute, Bellarmine opened the scoring with a header to take a 1-0 lead.
In the 14
th minute, the Aces created a chance in the box and took advantage of a defensive miscue, with the Knights conceding an own goal to tie the game at 1-1.
The game remained tied for most of the first half, but in the 44
th minute, Bellarmine retook the lead on a curling shot from the top of the box that tucked inside the far post, taking a 2-1 lead into halftime.
Evansville threatened early in the second half, putting up four shots in the first seven minutes of the period, but were turned away by the Bellarmine defense.
In the 75
th minute, the Knights struck again on a set piece, taking advantage of a free kick in a dangerous position to set up a goal from inside the six-yard box.
Trailing 3-1 in the final minutes, the Aces were able to draw a penalty, which Pablo Calvete (Ponferrada, Spain/UNIR) took advantage of by burying the penalty kick to make it a one-goal game. However, that was as close as the Aces would get, as the Knights took a 3-2 win.
Evansville out-shot Bellarmine, 13-12. Devin Shepherd (Denver, Colo./Arapahoe) and Calvete led the way with three shots each, while Shepherd put two on target. Hugo Amo (Burgos, Spain/Casper CC) made four saves for the Aces.
The Aces return to action on Sunday for another road test, taking on 22
nd-ranked Indiana in Bloomington. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.
