CANTON, Ohio - The Malone University men's soccer team fell at home to the Lake Erie College Storm 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers fall to 2-4-0 on the season as the Storm improve to 4-2-2. In the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), Malone drops to 1-3-0 while Lake Erie moves to 3-0-1.
The first half was a defensive effort by the Pioneers, as the Storm was relentless from the first whistle. Lake Erie had the first opportunity to get on the board at 34:46, but goalkeeper
Sam Cipriano made a clean save right down the center. Towards the 38th minute, Malone's defense had a goal sneak past them to make the score 1-0 Lake Erie going into the half.
The Pioneers came out of halftime with a chip on their shoulder as they competed heavily with the Storm's offensive pressure. Malone's offense had several opportunities for a breakaway to the goal, but Lake Erie's defense stood their ground and kept the Pioneers at zero goals. Malone had one last chance at the 90th minute from a shot by
Julius Eckmann but the Storm's goalkeeper made the game-winning save.
The Pioneer defense was led by
Ryan Ziskowski and
Drew Kapsak, as they were key players with containing Lake Erie's explosive offense. The goalkeeper Cipriano (1-3-0) finished the first half with one save.
Roman Sigafoos took over for the second half of the match and earned a clean sheet. Ziskowski, Kapsak, Eckmann, and
Valentino Makubele stayed on the pitch for the full 90 minutes for Malone.
The Malone University men's soccer team will be back in action on September 24 as they travel on the road to take on the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers for another Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) matchup. Kickoff time is at 7:30 P.M. CST.
