GLENSIDE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's soccer team fell behind early and was unable to recover in a 2-0 non-conference setback at Arcadia on Wednesday night.
The Knights (2-1) took the lead in the 14th minute and doubled it exactly nine minutes later, and though the contest was evenly matched statistically, those first-half markers were more than enough to see the home side through.
The Bears (1-1) put on a spell of pressure in the opening minutes, as Aidan O'Malley forced a save from the Arcadia keeper and fired a shot high. But the Knights broke the ice when Duncan O'Connor ripped a low effort from the center of the box to the bottom left corner of the net to put Ursinus in a hole, and the climb grew steeper still when Daniel Tittelmayer took a pass from the corner and juggled the ball before elevating a shot over keeper Tyler Lewin to make it 2-0 midway through the opening frame.
The score remained all the way to the end, though the Bears pushed hard for a breakthrough in the latter stages. Griffin Bower put two shots on frame and Luke Abdalla added another, all in the final seven minutes and change, but Arcadia goalie Jake Varrato was equal to them.
Bower and O'Malley paced the Bears with three shots each, while Abdalla and Alexis Ayala each put their only effort on target. Arcadia outshot Ursinus, 11-10, with the Bears holding an equally slim edge in corner kicks (3-2).
Varrato finished with five saves, while Lewin had two.
Ursinus heads to Gwynedd Mercy on Saturday for another non-conference showdown.