KENOSHA, WIS. - The University of St. Francis men's soccer team suffered its first taste of defeat on Tuesday to Carthage College (Wis.).  The Firebird offense scored two goals in the first half and one in the second, blanking the Fighting Saints 3-0 and pushing USF's overall record to 2-1-0.

First Half      
Carthage came out firing with a heavy offensive attack.  The Firebirds would see 11 open opportunities in the Saints backfield through the first period, and four direct shots on goal in the first twenty minutes of play. USF freshman keeper Alex Duda held his ground by saving the first three attempts to keep the Firebirds off the board. But a secondary shot off of his third save would find the back of the net, netting the score at 1-0 in Carthage's favor in the 19^th minute.  Forty-five seconds later, the Saints would strike back with an attempt of their own from senior Dominik Barwiolek, but the shot would miss wide left of the net.  In the 40^th minute, Carthage would capitalize on a costly USF mistake as a penalty kick was awarded to the Firebirds due to a Saints' mistimed foul in the box.  The try would result in a goal for CC, extending their lead to 2-0 at the half.

Second Half  
The second half saw plenty of offensive attacks from both sides.  St. Francis fired first with an early attempt from graduate senior Santos Contreras on goal but couldn't cash in.  Carthage would respond with two shots of their own in the following three minutes, with one sneaking past Duda for the third CC goal of the evening at the 48:43 mark.  Needing to catch back up quickly, the Saints desperately tried to cut down their 0-3 deficit with a string of five straight shot attempts between the 62^nd and 71^st minutes, but Carthage keeper Brian Koh would tally three saves during the attack to shut the door on the Saints.  Even though they outshot the Firebirds 13-11 in the period, and held the advantage in corner kicks 7-1, the lead was too much for the Saints to overcome, finishing the game with a loss and a 3-0 final score.
   
GAME NOTES  

• The Saints took 22 total shots with six attempts coming on goal while the Firebirds shot 18 times having nine of its tries coming on goal. 
• Santos Contreras took a team high five shots, with three being on target 
• Despite allowing three goals Alex Duda picked up six saves in his collegiate debut, four of which came in the first half. 

Next Game
The University of St. Francis men's soccer team will travel to Cornerstone University (Mich.) on Tuesday, September 3 to take on the Golden Eagles.  The last time these two schools faced off was in September of 2010, with the Saints defeating Cornerstone 4-3.

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