PORTSMOUTH – Wednesday afternoon it was men's soccer's chance to play in the annual "Kick for Crohn's game." The Bears found themselves in a 2-0 deficit with just under 30 minutes to play before senior Luke Purpero got in behind the defense on a perfect feed from junior Jacob Hackworth to cut the lead in half. However, Mount Vernon Nazarene (1-1) would score just over a minute later to seal the 3-1 victory.
The Bears (0-2) took each of the first three shots to start the contest; however, it was the Cougars that would strike on the scoreboard first. In the 13th minute of play, junior goalkeeper Thomas Carbonari made the initial save from close range to stifle the orignal Cougars' scoring attempt. The rebound would then go to Mount Vernon Nazarene's Jared Milhoan who scored with the Bears' defense scrambling to recover and get back into position.
The Cougers started to dictate the pace as the first half wore on, taking each of the next five shots and earning two corners to Shawnee State's lone attempt in the first half. However, the Bears' defense that was aided by four Carbonari saves in the first half kept the deficit at one going into the break.
To start the second half, the Cougars again controlled the pace of the match with four of the first five shots to start the second half. The fifth shot would end up putting them up by a pair as Brian Petak broke behind the defense on a feed from Kwaku Frimpong in the 57th minute.
Feeling the pressure to get something going offensively, the Bears turned to a pair of the veterans in the 70th minute. Transitioning back from a Mount Vernon Nazarene corner attempt, Hackworth found Purpero making a run behind the defense and hit him in stride. From there, a few touches from the senior put him in position and he finished to cut the deficit to one with just over 20 minutes to play.
With the game now at a one goal difference, Shawnee State took Carbonari out of goal to see if he could provide an additional spark to the offense. However, the Cougars would quickly answer back before he could get subbed back in on offense. The Bears would have another shot to bring the game back to one in the 75th minute when Kyle Brooks took a shot from in close, but did not have enough room to work around the goalie who stopped the attempt.
That would be one of the final chances the Bears had in the offensive third of the field as freshman Cory Wright, who came on in goal for Carbonari, was called on to make four saves in his collegiate debut. The Bears would get one final attempt on net in the waning minute of play, but to no avail as Mount Vernon Nazarene held on for the non-conference win.
For the Bears, Dylan Stevens and Hackworth each finished with two shots, while Purpero made his only attempt count for the Bear's lone goal of the game. In net, Carbonari finished with eight saves on 10 shots in his 69-plus minutes in goal, while Wright played the final 20:32 and made four stops on five shots.
After two home games to start the season, men's soccer will look to turn around their early results on the road this weekend as it plays a pair of games at Saint Francis. On Saturday, the Bears will play the hosts in a 6:30 start. The next day, Shawnee State will take on Indiana Tech in a neutral site matchup on the same field. That game will get underway at 2 p.m.
