Matt Stainbrook ~Guest Writer~

The Xavier men’s soccer team made a valiant effort to come back from a 2-0 deficit but ultimately fell to Lipscomb 3-2 on Friday at Xavier’s soccer complex.
The Musketeers almost escaped the first half with no damage until the Bison were able to score in the 44th minute.
A Xavier foul led to a free kick near midfield which resulted in a header that found the back of the net and a Lipscomb 1-0 lead at the end of the half.

In the beginning of the second half, Lipscomb scored again on a breakaway, causing a 2-0 deficit for the Musketeers just three minutes after the break. The score remained the same until sophomore Jalen Brown found his teammate, freshman Josh Grant, in the box with 10 minutes left in the game to make the score 2-1.

In his collegiate debut, Grant scored the first goal of his career.The momentum was short lived, as Lipscomb was able to score just 17 seconds later to push the lead to two once again.

Brown, who had a career-high with three points in the game, then scored for the Musketeers just inside the left post after a fancy move in the box, making the score 3-2 Lipscomb in the 87th minute.

As time expired freshman Eric McWoods had a shot on goal that couldn’t find its way in, giving the Lipscomb Bisons a wild victory in their road opener.
There were a total of 26 fouls in the game, with two Bison players receiving yellow cards for their physical play.
Xavier had the advantage 13-10 on shots and 6-5 on corners compared to Lipscomb. Senior Eric Osswald spent all 90 minutes in goal for Xavier, allowing three goals and making two clutch saves to help the Musketeers.

Brown was named to the Big East weekly honor roll for his play, coming off his freshman season in which he was honored on the Big East All-Rookie team.

The Xavier faithful gave their best effort with a crowd of 1,129 on hand to cheer on the musketeers, including a section of 600 students sporting complementary vuvuzelas.

Xavier fell to 0-1 and now faces a tough game against nationally ranked Wisconsin on Aug. 31.