CRESSEN, PA. The Juniata College men's soccer team played well but came up short in a 3-2 match at Mt. Aloysius earlier today. Dani Meyer-Arrivillaga (Durham, NC/Carolina Friends) and Robby Higgins (Middletown, PA/Lower Dauphin) scored goals for the Eagles. The contest was a chippy affair as a total of six yellow cards were given out during the match.
The Eagles struck first in the 33rd minute when Higgins finished a loose ball off a corner from Steven Guetzlaff (Shnecksville, PA/Parkland). It would be the only goal scored in the half as Garrett Lavelle (Eden, NY/Eden) shut the Mounties down through the first forty-five.
The Mounties retaliated early in the second half with Jim Smith scoring on a penalty kick six minutes in. Smith struck again six minutes later as he redirected a free kick pass the goalie.
The Eagles were able to tie it up at two when Meyer-Arrivillaga beat a Mountie defender and scored on one of his two shots on the day. It would not be enough however as the Mounties retook the lead for good when a cross from Kyle Marshall deflected into the net in the 88th minute.
"Mt. Aloysius is a much improved team and they work hard", proclaimed head coach Dan Dubois. "We played better than we've played most of the season up to this point", the coach expressed bout his own squad, "They are a resilient bunch, hopefully we will learn from the shortcomings and mistakes and be better [tomorrow]."
Lavelle took the loss in goal and had three saves. His counterpart Justin Hann had four stops.
The Mounties led in shots 11-8 while both teams registered six shots on goal. Juniata had four corner kicks to Mt. Aloysius' two.
The Eagles are now 1-3 on the season and will look to rebound against the Panthers of Pitt-Bradford on Winton Hill Field at 2:00pm.