THE RUNDOWN
The Dallas Baptist Men's Soccer Team was defeated 2-1 on Saturday by Colorado Christian University. A goal in the second half doubled the lead for the road squad, and was enough to withstand a 17-shot barrage in the final frame by the Patriots (1-1).
 
DBU totaled 22 shots in the entire match, compared to 10 by the Cougars (2-0), but were unable to find the back of the net most of the contest. Zach Ashland collected six saves in the second half, as the goalkeeper worked the final 45 minutes of action.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
It was a back-and-forth battle in the opening half, as Colorado Christian barely edged the home team 6-5 in shot attempts going into the break. Weston Leake broke a scoreless tie with an unassisted goal that came at the 22:26 minute mark. That would result in a 1-0 deficit for DBU at halftime.
 
The Patriots began producing more opportunities in the second half, pounding nine shot on goals, but never landed one until the final eight seconds of regulation by freshman Nathan McBride. The Mansfield, Texas, native hit the netter after the ball deflected from a save the goalie got when redshirt sophomore Landon Lacy fired a couple seconds prior.
 
McBride's goal prevented DBU being shutout, but couldn't completely erase the margin by the final horn. CCU got the game-deciding score off of Adam Hern in the 81^st minute. Calvin beck tallied the assist.
 
LEADING STATS
DBU increased its shot attempts by 10 compared to opening night, Thursday, and placed seven players with double-digits in that category. Sophomore Riley Alvey matched career-highs with five shots and four shots on goal. Freshman Walker Beasley poured on four attempts as the Southlake, Texas, native saw a career-long 44 minutes of play.
 
Junior Brian Robertson followed with three contributing efforts. Freshman Michael Andrews and Nathan McBride, redshirt sophomore Landon Lacy, and junior Alex Becerra all added two. Lacy, who punched in the game-winner on Thursday, also recorded a multiple shots on goal with a pair.
 
Sophomore Mason Stringer (1-1) suffered the loss allowing two goals and picking up two saves.
 
For the Cougars, Luke Burgard had a team-high, four shots and one that was on goal. Leake went one for two, scoring the first of CCU's two goals.
 
Brandon Eide was the starting goalkeeper and received the win after 45 minutes of shutout action. He did pick up one save.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Patriots had nine shots on goal in the contest, but the first didn't occur until the final 30 seconds of the beginning half by Beasley. The eight remainders happened in the second frame.
 
22 equaled the second-most shot attempts the squad achieved in 2013, and DBU did it twice. The highest amount was 28 versus Ouachita Baptist. Dating back to last season, the Patriots have broken the 20-shot mark in three of the last five affairs.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
"It was great to see us play so tough, smart, and physical in the second half to take control, but we have to learn that this game is 90 minutes and it takes two halves."
-Men's Soccer head coach Chris Crawford

"We will use and learn from this to keep working towards our team goals," the third year head coach responded. "It was a tough loss today for our guys, but hopefully we use this as an eye opener and motivation the rest of the season."    

ROAD AHEAD
Dallas Baptist opens one of its two longest road trips of the campaign beginning next week. Thursday, September 11 the Patriots will be at Southern Nazarene University for a 7 PM start time. The road affair begins a five-game stretch away from Patriot Soccer Field.