The Lakeland men's soccer team played host to the Cuyahoga Triceratops today and came out on the short-end of a 3-2 decision. Tri-C possessed the ball for a good part of the first half as the Lakers were content to defend and try to catch the Triceratops in a counter attack. The Lakers did just that about 12 minutes into the half as Ruach Deng took the ball just outside the box and deftly dribbled around a defender and made a nice pass to Alex Webster-Gutierrez who tucked it away for a 1-0 Laker lead. The teams would continue the trend for the next 20 minutes as Tri-C maintained a lot of possession, but did not have many quality scoring chances. That changed with 14:23 to play in the half when a Lakeland defender turned the ball over at the 12 yard line and Cuyahoga was able to score on the near side as a result. The teams would continue to battle as the game became more physical. At the 7:32 mark of the first half, the Lakers were whistled for a foul which set up a free kick from about 30 yards out. On the play, the ball was hit toward the opposite goal post where a Lakeland defender and Tri-C forward were waiting. The ball then glanced off the head of a Tri-C player and found it's way into the net for a 2-1 Cuyahoga lead going into the break.

In the second half, the Lakers picked up the tempo and offensive pressure. Just 4 minutes into the half, a ball was chipped over the Cuyahoga defenders and a streaking Laker forward was taken down in the box to set up a penalty kick for Omar Inga. Inga wasted no time in burying the shot into the upper left hand corner to knot the score at 2. Both teams would then battle back-and-forth for the next 20 minutes with neither team able to gain an advantage. The Lakers then made another critical error just outside the penalty box as the defender misplayed the ball. Unfortunately, the misplay setup the Cuyahoga forward to go in 1 on 1 with the Lakeland netminder, and Tri-C was able to score the deciding goal. The last 20 minutes of the game saw the Lakers press to try and score the tying goal. Lakeland had a a few opportunities, but were unable to score. This press also exposed the Lakers to a couple of breakaways late in the game. Till Oppermann made several outstanding saves in 1v1 situations down the stretch to keep the Lakers in the game. Despite a strong effort, the Lakers came up just short as time expired.

Till Oppermann was credited with 8 saves in the loss.

Ruach Deng commented, "We played a hard game - mostly defensive in the first half. We were really able to pick up our pressure in the second half, but in the end we just made too many defensive mistakes. We have another good test coming up on Saturday. We'll work on some things and come out ready to play."   

Next Up: Lakeland will play host to the Grand Rapids Raiders on Saturday (9/21). The match will kickoff at 11:00 am.