JOLIET, Ill. --- A 2-1 defeat at the hands of Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Saint Xavier University on Tuesday (Oct. 15) night at ATI Field at Joliet Memorial Stadium cost the University of St. Francis men's soccer team four spots in the league standings.
 

The Saints (7-4-3, 4-3-1 CCAC) held a one-point advantage over three other clubs for the No.2 spot in the standings when play began on Tuesday, but USF's loss combined with wins by four teams just under the Saints in the standings dropped St. Francis all the way down to the No.6 position by night's end.
 

Saint Xavier, meanwhile, took over USF's No.2 spot along with two other teams, all of which sit at 5-2 in the league standings with four matches remaining in the regular season.  Overall, the Cougars improved to 6-5-1.
 

Saint Xavier jumped on top in the game's first ten minutes when Fabian Lopez timed a Cesar Correa corner kick perfectly to tally his third goal of the season on a header.
 

A defensive battle ensued from there with neither team getting many shots on goal over the course of the contest, especially in the second half when each team amassed just two shots on goal. For both, however, one of the two found the back of the net. 
 

Saint Xavier added a much-needed insurance goal by Christian Nava off a feed from Matt Kulpinski at the 73:13 mark. That was because the Saints countered with Hameed Soberu (JR/Lagos, Nigeria)'s own header just 74 seconds later on an assist by Anthony Marmolejo (FR/Plainfield, Ill.) to make it a 2-1 contest.
 

Marmolejo also registered two of USF's other three shots on goal for the match, including one that Saint Xavier goalkeeper Alan Garcia stopped at point blank range in the 29th minute that would have tied the contest at one-all. Garcia finished the match with four saves on the night.
 

USF's only other shot on goal came from Malek Rashid (JR/West Bank, Palestine) in the second half.
 

The Saints will look to get back on track Saturday when they face Trinity International University in another league contest beginning at 2:30 pm.