Men's Soccer Suffers Loss After Bulldogs' Big Second Half

(Adrian, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar and Adrian College Bulldog men's soccer teams entered Friday afternoon's game with a combined 8-1 record, but it would be the Bulldogs who got the better of the Cougars in the game.

Miguel Andriano Castillo would help give the Cougars the lead in the first half.  After a foul was committed by the Bulldogs, the Cougars used precise passing to build up the pitch.  In the attacking half, Dillon Croft passed it to Adam Baldwin, who gave a swinging delivery into the penalty area just in front of the Bulldog goalkeeper.  The pass would find Castillo's foot on the first touch, and Cleary took the lead on Castillo's second goal of the season.  Cleary held onto the lead through halftime, as both team's defenses were called to action to keep the score as it was.

Drama would ensue in the second half, as a collision between Cougar goalkeeper Austin Freemire and a Bulldog attacker resulted in a pair of yellows and a non-penalty free kick in the box, which Adrian missed.  Cleary decided to make the change in goal, bringing in Vaios Papadoudis.  The Bulldogs quickly forced a turnover, and beat Papadoudis to tie the game, and would take the lead a few minutes later.  Adrian would not slow down, as they went on to score two more goals to ice the game, as Cleary would lose by a 4-1 scoreline.

Vaios Papadoudis would suffer the loss in goal, making 3 saves on 7 shots faced.  Austin Freemire made 3 saves on 3 shots faced.

Cleary outshot the Bulldogs 15-14, while Adrian held the shots on goal advantage 10-5.  Adrian would have 2 corner kicks to Cleary's 1 in the game.

The loss brings Cleary's record to 4-2 on the season.  The Cougars will conclude non-conference play with a road trip to Olive to take on the Comets next Wednesday, September 18.  The game is set to begin at 5:30 PM.