PORTSMOUTH – Men's soccer dropped its home opener Saturday afternoon on the Shawnee Turf to St. Francis (Ind.), 2-0. The Bears held a slight advantage in total shots for the game at 13-10 but were just not able to fully crack the Cougars defense.

For Saint Francis (4-1-1), the Cougars used a goal in the opening five minutes and the goal in the final five minutes to defeat the Bears (1-2). Justin Mahlmeister was called on in goal to make the first start of his Shawnee State career and made seven saves but Brad Buzzard stopped all six shots on goal that he faced in net for St. Francis to record the shutout. At the game's conclusion, sophomore Ben Pulsford was named the Portsmouth Pizzeria Man of the Match for the Bears for his work on defense in front of the freshman goalie.

The Bears got the first shot of the game just under a minute into the game but it was not enough as just under five minutes into the game SSU was whistled for a foul and the Cougars would capitalize. Off of a set piece, USF made it 1-0 when Tito Amador found Al Williams for the finish to put his team up 1-0.

That goal would be the only scoring for the next 80-plus minutes before Jason Walcutt broke throught the Shawnee State defense in the 87th minute of play to put the Bears in a 2-0 hole that would stand at the final buzzer.

For the Bears, Martyn Sayer led the team with four shots and put three of those attempts on goal. Nick Dowdell also took a pair of shots and put one of those attempts on goal. Seven other players also recorded a single shot in the loss on Saturday afternoon. In addition to holding a slight advantage in shots, the Bears also held a 7-5 edge in corner kicks on the day.

Men's soccer will now have a quick turnaround as they will be back at home this Tuesday for a 4 pm. game vs. West Virginia Tech.