DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque men's soccer hosted Carthage College on Sunday afternoon. The Spartans had plenty of energy during the game and put up a strong fight in a narrow 1-0 loss to the Firebirds.
The First half of the game started strong for the Spartans with Jose Serra finding the ball at his feet in a congested box, where he got the shot off and forced the Carthage keeper to make a quick save. Following the early chance, UD earned three corner kicks, with two of them resulting in strong chances. The first fell to Sam Matthews, who hit it towards the top right, forcing the save. The next corner found the head of Serra, which forced another save. It was at 27:18 that Carthage scored to put the Spartans down 1-0. Following the goal, Lucas Albright and Aidan Kongtahworn subbed into the game and nearly linked up for the equalizer, with Albright hitting the shot just wide of the goal. At halftime, UD led the game 8-5 on shots and 6-4 on corner kicks.
Early into the second half, the Spartans were all over the Firebirds, with Eddie Papis shooting the ball narrowly wide of the goal at 48:10. At the 70-minute mark, the Spartans thought they had found the equalizer off a set piece, but the goal was called back for offside. It was a tough battle in the remaining 20 minutes of the match, with the Spartans falling 1-0 after giving it everything.
Jose Serra led the team in shots with four. Sam Matthews, Ryder Syverson and Jonatan Banuelos each had two shots. Nic Hubbard played the full 90 minutes with one save and played a big role in collecting the ball quickly on counterattacks by the Firebirds.
Up Next
The Spartans will travel to Pella, Iowa, for their first conference match of the season on Saturday, September 27. They will face Central at 3:00 p.m. on Central College Soccer Field.Â
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