Williamsburg, KY – After striking an early lead and leading offensively for most of the match, the Patriots fell 3-2 in their season opener to Union, Saturday night at the UC Soccer Complex. Cumberlands starts their season with a 0-1 record, despite having outshot their opponent 11-9.
Collectively, UC had 11 shots with six being on frame.
Jesus Macaya had the most shots with four, three on goal, and two goals, followed by
Shuma Sasaki with two shots, rounded out by
Toufik Najem,
Antonis Seraphides, and
Rodrigo Riveros with one shot apiece.
The Patriots were hot out of the gates with two shots on goal within the first five minutes of play, however neither converted keeping the game scoreless. After creating a steady pace of play, UC's
Rodrigo Riveros had a quick pass to
Jesus Macaya for a shot in the lower right corner of the posts for Macaya's first career goal to put the Pats up 1-0.
In the 24
th minute of play, back-to-back corner kicks from
Shuma Sasaki came across the box, but ultimately missed wide. UC saw shots from Najem and Seraphides that missed wide to send the Pats into the half with a 1-0 lead.
The second half challenged the Patriots defense with two shots on goal from the Bulldogs, ultimately leading to their first goal of the evening to tie UC at 1-1. The Patriots were relentless and saw a sharp pass from
Mario Fernandez into the box for Macaya to complete the brace and put the Pats ahead, 2-1. In the 71', Union had a corner kick that set the pace for their second goal of the evening to even the playing field once again. A sharp kick from the corner of the field saw Union advance ahead of the Pats, 3-2.
UC worked against the clock, seeing a pair of corner kicks from Sasaki to try and give the Patriots an opportunity to even the score. In the final four minutes of play, a header shot from
Bruno Garcia looked as if it were to head across the goal line in the upper right margin. However, Union's goalie had a leaping stop to push it away from the goal line giving the Pats their first defeat of the season.
UC will be back in action just five days time, traveling to face (RV) Vanguard University. The game is set to kick off at 3 PM ET on Thursday, August 24 in Lima, OH.
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