KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—The Truman Men's Soccer team took the field Sunday, looking to bounce back from a loss to Southern Indiana Friday as they took on conference leading McKendree. The game was fairly evenly matched for most of the contest, but a goal from leading scorer James Stone put the game away for the Bearcats, who won 2-0.
The game began slowly as the teams did not take a shot until the seventh minute of the game, which Stone put wide. Truman managed the first shot on goal as Jack Austin tested Bearcats keeper Alvaro Cortazar, who was up to the challenge. Truman keeper Joey Keane made three saves in the game, his first coming in the 21st minute off a shot by Karson Huels. Finally, in the 31st minute McKendree got on the board as Matthew Moran beat Keane for his first goal of the season. Lukas Vaiciunas and Eddie Davis picked up the assists. The teams would go to half with a 1-0 edge to the visitors.
Much like the first half, the teams eased into the second half of the game, with the first shot on goal not coming until the 59th minute when Davis tested Keane, who made the stop to keep Truman within striking distance. Later on in the half, Jeff Masters had Truman's best shot to score when he took a great through ball down the right flank with a well-timed run to get behind the defense, but the shot went just wide of the net going right to left. Truman was still in it and kept fighting but in the 88th minute Stone got the ball in space off a pass from Huels and put it past Keane to get McKendree on the board again and seal the win.
Overall, Truman managed eight shots with two coming on goal. While McKendree managed 11 shots, the Bulldogs limited them to just five on goal. Masters and Collin McDonough each managed two shots for TSU to lead the team. The season will conclude next weekend as they take on Missouri-St. Louis on Friday and Lindenwood at home for Senior Day next Sunday.
