PORTSMOUTH – Men's soccer scored first Sunday afternoon and held a 1-0 lead. However, Anderson University (3-7) would answer less than 20 seconds later to tie the game and run off a total of five unanswered goals in its 5-1 victory. The Bears' goal came from Luke Purpero, his team-leading fourth of the season for the Bears, off the first assist from Thomas Carbonari who played in the field on Sunday afternoon.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Bears (1-8) had some solid chances early, including shots on goal from both Tanner Hopwood and Nick Dowdell. In the 35th minute, Purpero would get on the end of nice feed from Carbonari and beat the Anderson goalie for the early 1-0 lead. However, just a couple seconds later, Kingsley Kantande would even the score and the Ravens would take the lead into the break with a second goal in the 40th minute of play.
The Ravens held a slight 11-8 edge in the opening 45 minutes. However, Cory Wright saved six in the opening half to keep the game at a one goal deficit.
The Ravens would extend their lead in the second half on goals in the 65th, 67th and 77th minute as the Bears just could not slow down Anderson's momentum. The visitors spread the scoring around, for the most part, as Brad Rusche was the only player to tally twice in his team's winning effort. In total, the Ravens finished with 18 shots in the game, 14 on goal.
In the second half, Shawnee State sent just one shot wide of the goal as Chris Maloney finished with the win, allowing just the one goal in six attempts during his 70:32 of playing time. Nathan Wadley came on to finish the game in goal for the visitors.
For the Bears, Wright stopped seven of the 11 shots on goal that he faced in 66:48 of playing time. Jordan Cross and T. J. Cappel also saw playing time in the Bears' net. Cross played 15:05 in net and stopped one of his two shots that he faced. Cappel stopped his only shot in the final 8:08 of playing time.
Offensively, Hopwood was the only Bear to take two shots in the game. He put both his attempts on target. Purpero made his only shot count as it went for the only goal. A total of eight players finished with a shot. In addition to Purpero and Hopwood, Carbonari, Dowdell and Ryan Klear all put shots on goal during the game.
Men's soccer will be back at home this Wednesday for a 4 p.m. game against Northwestern Ohio. That game will be the second of four straight home games that the Bears will host. Mid-South play will resume on October 3 against Pikeville.
