UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO - The Penn State Behrend men's soccer team dropped a non-conference game Friday night, falling to a tough John Carroll squad, 3-1.
The Blue Streaks (3-0) scored three unanswered goals to remain undefeated while handing the Lions (2-1) their first loss of the season.
Behrend and John Carroll battled through a hard fought first half. Just over five minutes into the match, Matt Dziadosz (Leechburg, PA/Kiski Area) broke free from the defense off a through-ball from Nick Mckee (Bridgeville, PA/South Fayette), helping him tally his second goal of the season.
At the 16:58 mark, Eric Rozsits (Dublin, OH/Jermone) buried a header past goalkeeper Chris Ralph (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) from a Brian Lutz (Akron, OH/Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit) corner kick, equalizing the game at 1-all.
After an even first half, it was an open game for either team. Behrend had a chance midway through the second half when Andrew Mastovich (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) got his head on the end of a Dziadosz free kick, but Liam McIntosh (Mentor, OH/Lake Catholic) was quick on his toes to make the save.
It wasn't until senior Jesse Marinaro (Brunswick, OH/Brunswick) placed a penalty kick side pocket of the net to put the Blue Streak up 2-1 with only eight minutes remaining in the match. The Lions gave it their all, but soon became exhausted from trying to even the score. Hayden Parente (Medina, OH/Cleveland Saint Ignatius) took advantage of it by finishing his first goal of the season, finalizing the score at 3-1.
Behrend will be back in action at home on Sunday when they take on Hiram. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.