[Men's Soccer] Cavs fall to Fire in season opener despite extra time

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. – The Cavaliers were outlasted 2-1 by the Southeastern Fire in extra time Thursday afternoon to open their season at Pulliam Stadium.

The game proved to be very frustrating for the offense as the Cavs outshot the Fire 8-6 in the second half, and 16-15 in the entire match.

"Regarding the offense, I think we need to finish our chances," said Head Coach Michael Bruce. "We created a lot of chances which was good to see, but we just need to put the ball in the net."

Southeastern broke the scoreless first half with a goal from freshman Eric Ugarte in the 40th minute.

Montreat sophomore defender Andre Dinca retaliated with a highlight-reel goal to tie the game at 1 in the 69th minute of the contest. The Cavs could not convert on any of their late second-half chances, and the game went to extra time.

As the second period of extra time wound down, the match was 58 seconds away from ending in a tie, but Southeastern defender Kendall Crouse headed in a goal off of a free kick from teammate Jonathan Jimenez to give the Cavs their first loss of the season.

Coach Bruce did not seem too discouraged after the loss, saying, "It's our first game. We made a lot of mistakes. We're a young team, so I think we will continue to build and move forward from this."

Jeovanni Ordaz and Daniel dos Santos combined to put up 10 of 16 total shots for the Cavs, with six of them being on goal. Cavs goalkeeper Jesus Ramos put up a great effort making nine total saves to keep his team in the contest.

Up Next: The Cavaliers are set to bounce back and take on Life University on Saturday, Aug. 18 at home.