ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure University men's soccer team dropped a non-conference contest to Cleveland State, 2-1, Tuesday evening at the Marra Athletics Complex.
The Bonnies looked to jump ahead early in the third minute when Callum Shillington stood over a free kick just outside the box. The seniors strike, however, was tipped by the Cleveland State goalkeeper Stephen Yerian into the crossbar and out for a corner kick.
Maarten Schouten earned his start in net for the Brown and White and was tested in the 10th minute but was able to turn away the Vikings chance.
Bona's had three scoring opportunities in the 16th minute with two shots from Jack Steel being blocked and Ryan Holt's chance rolling just wide of the net.
Cleveland State broke through in the 20th minute, connecting on a long ball down the sideline and a cross into the box where Domenic Ruggiero found the back of the net.
The Vikings struck again just three minutes later when Djordje Petrovic was on the receiving end of a cross to double the visitor's lead.
The Bonnies were able to pull one back in the second half when Daniel Helle was pulled down in the box in the 66th minute. Kyle Macfarlane stepped up and buried the penalty kick for his second goal of the season to cut the deficit in half.
Jackson Minneci had a chance for the equalizer with under 10 minutes to play but his shot hit off the crossbar and out of play.
Holt and Steel paced the Bonnies with two shots each while Schouten made three saves in his St. Bonaventure debut.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MICK GIORDANO
"The entire second half was about showing more of our identity and our game model of what we want to do and be on the front foot. We were certainly a bit sluggish in the first half and didn't enjoy the ball enough. We changed a couple things to half tactically and how we wanted the boys going. We were able to show it on the first goal but unfortunately, we didn't have quite as many runs behind after that."
UP NEXT
The Bonnies head back out on the road, traveling to take on Davidson Saturday, Sept. 26. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. in North Carolina.
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