Cougars Finish Illinois Road Trip With 6-1 Loss at St. Francis

(Joliet, IL)-- After some late heroics helped the team earn a draw Friday at Judson, the Cleary Cougars played their second game in three days, as they took on the St. Francis Fighting Saints in Joliet Sunday afternoon.

The Fighting Saints controlled the game from the opening whistle, as the Cougars struggled to keep possession against the hosts' press.  That pressure led to the game's opening goal, as the Fighting Saints scored just 7 minutes into the game to take an early 1-0 lead.  Cleary seemed to respond following the opening goal, as neither team really created much, until a foul was called in the box against the Cougars, leading to a penalty kick, and giving St. Francis a 2-0 lead.  St. Francis knocked on two more goals over the next eight minutes to take a commanding 4-0 lead, still in the first half.  After Eric Nshimiyimana picked up a red card after earning his second yellow card of the match, the Cougars would be forced to play the rest of the game a man down.  St. Francis capitalized on Cleary's shock, as they scored their fifth goal of the game and half just a few moments later.  Cleary would get on the board in the 37th minute, when Vaios Papadoudis found Lesman Morazan down the pitch.  Morazan would beat a defender to create space and fired a rocket into the upper left corner of the goal to score his first goal of the season.  The score would remain 5-1 for the remainder of the half.

Just eight minutes into the second half, St. Francis would add their 6th and final goal of the game.  Cleary's attempts to cut back into the deficit would fall short, as the Fighting Saints would withstand and cutoff any chance that the Cougars were able to create.  

"Friday took a lot out of us," said coach Dan Bulley.  "(We put ourselves in a difficult situation) down 5-1 at the half, but I'm proud of the guys to fight, and show the resolve they did in the second half.  We can take away some positives and move forward, having learned a ton this weekend."

Vaios Papadoudis (0-1-1) made 4 saves on 10 shots on goal for the Cougars.  Lesman Morazan's goal was his first of the season, and teammates Elijah Selembe and Diego Aguirre each added a shot on goal for the Cougars.  St. Francis outshot the Cougars 16-12 in the game.  Cleary did have the advantage on saves (4-2), and on corner kicks (8-4).  Both teams committed 16 fouls.

Cleary drops to 0-1-1, and will make their Lake Trust Stadium debut on Saturday, August 27, when they host the Olivet College Comets.  Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM.