PORTLAND, Ore. - Facing a new opponent is always tough since there is no history to go off of and that's exactly what the University of Mary Men's Soccer team went up against today when they took on GNAC newcomer Concordia University (Ore.).
 
The first half of the match was another tough defensive battle but the Marauders (2-6-1, 1-4-0 GNAC) couldn't break through as the Cavaliers (4-2-2, 2-1-2 GNAC) struck twice in the second half to hand U-Mary their third loss in a row.
 
The Marauders had the first opportunity of the match off a shot from James Liddiard in the fourth minute, but his attempt sailed wide right and the counter attempt from Ben Culpan also traveled wide of the goal in the fifth minute.
 
The Cavaliers unleashed a deluge of shots starting in the 13th minute, but U-Mary's steadfast defense held the line against five shots and two corner kicks with two attempts blocked by Marauder defenders.
 
Christoffer Nogueira powered the Marauders down the pitch in the 25th minute but his shot attempt ended up saved by keeper Arne Niermann to keep the match scoreless.
 
Ramsey Blahnik had an attempt at a shot in the 32nd minute but was eventually blocked by Concordia's defense, and the Cavaliers launched a trio of shots near the end of the half with the Marauders' defense coming up big again with a team save in the 40th minute to keep the score even at 0-0 going into halftime.
 
U-Mary's defense finally slowed in the second half as the Cavaliers took a shot in the 51st minute that was saved by Ludvig Rhodin but the follow-up from Matt Paine snuck by Rhodin to give Concordia a 1-0 lead.
 
Jonathan Sellars tried to swing the momentum back into the Marauder's favor with a shot in the 52nd minute, but his attempt went wide of the goal and Concordia put the pressure back on U-Mary.
 
The Cavaliers took four more shots by the 55th minute with one blocked by the Marauder defense and another saved by Rhodin, but Concordia broke through again in the 58 minute when Paine drove a shot past Rhodin from about 10 yards away to make the score 2-0 over U-Mary.
 
Nogueira had another shot opportunity in the 63rd minute but his attempt was blocked by Concordia's defense and the Cavaliers fired off six straight shots by the 74th minute with two saved and two more blocked by the defense in an effort to widen the gap.
 
The Marauders were able to fire off two more shots on goal by the match's end with Nogueira taking one in the 78th minute and Aaron Brennan taking the other in the 84th minute, but Niermann put a stop to both to keep U-Mary scoreless en route to a 2-0 decision.
 
Nogueira took four shots in total with two coming on goal, while the other shot on goal came from Brennan.
 
Despite facing 26 shots in total, the Marauder defense held fast with seven combined saves, six from Rhodin and one team save, while also nullifying three corner kick attempts from the Cavaliers.
 
The Marauders will return home next week as they host four straight matches at the MDU Resources Bowl starting against Saint Martin's University on Thursday, October 8, at 7:30 PM.
 
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