Men's Soccer Lets Early 2-0 Lead Slip in Tight Loss at Mercy

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. – Playing a second straight non-conference game on the road, the University of Bridgeport's men's soccer team suffered a 3-2 defeat at Mercy University on Saturday afternoon. The loss moves the Purple Knights' record to 0-2-1 this season.

Bridgeport led 2-0 against the Mavericks thanks to a pair of quality goals from freshman Kristians Prieditis and senior Kaanturk Akgul. Incidentally, both Purple Knights also scored in their last contest which was a 2-2 tie at SCSU.  

Prieditis, the reigning CACC Rookie of the Week, opened the scoring with a great individual effort in the sixth minute. The Latvian muscled through a pair of defenders on the edge of the box before firing a left-footed shot into the back of the net.

It was another sensational play from Akgul just three minutes later that gave UB a 2-0 edge. The Turkey native one-touched a Mercy turnover to himself and hammered a shot from about 20 yards out over the outstretched arms of the Mavericks' keeper.

After UB snatched the early two-goal lead, Mercy answered with a trio of first-half tallies of their own. The Mavericks found the back of the net in the 18^th minute, the 28th minute and the 43^rd minute.

The Purple Knights, who were playing down a man throughout the final 53 minutes of regulation, were unable to find the equalizer. UB earned four corners in the second half and had one shot on goal that was saved.

Freshman goalkeeper Magnus Midtlien made his first career start for UB, playing the full 90 minutes. The Norwegian finished with seven saves in the contest.

UP NEXT
The schedule stays tough for the Purple Knights as they will travel to face nationally ranked SNHU (No. 6) on Wednesday (Sept. 17) at 6 p.m.