The Thomas University Men's soccer team dropped their first game of the season 3-2 Thursday night against the Firehawks from the University of Southern Tennessee.
To start the game, Giacomo Bacigalupo's shot in the ninth minute was parried into the crossbar by UTS keeper Ajay Murray. The TU offense continued this pressure consistently in the half creating five first half opportunities.
The next opportunity for the Night Hawks came in the 16th minute when TU winger Giacomo Bacigalupo found forward Regan McLaren on the break giving the Night Hawks the 1-0 lead.
Despite the Night Hawk goal, the Firehawks offense created an abundance of chances resulting in three first half goals. In the 23rd minute, Tennessee Southern striker Mario Lopez leveled the contest at one apiece. Next, in the 36th minute, Miguel Tizapa fired a shot top shelf from just inside the box giving UT Southern the 2-1 lead.
Just before the half, in the 39th minute, Firehawks midfielder Diego Lopez picked up his second goal of the contest curling a corner kick into the goal.
After the break, Thomas looked to be rejuvenated earning a free kick and goal in the 49th minute, as a chain of underclassman headers between Freshman Regan McLaren and forward Hudson Cougill resulted in the Sophomore from Tampa, Fla. earning his second goal of the season.
In the 71st minute, the Firehawks were full sprint on a fast break when 5th year Senior Jason Piurowski sacrificed his body resulting in a second yellow card, ejecting the defender from the contest.
The final 20 minutes were back and forth, as both teams created chances. Thomas fired on nine shots in the second half, as Tennessee Southern keeper Ajay Murray continued to deny the Night Hawks of any late game heroics. Murray finished the contest with eight saves.
Up next, the Night Hawks continue the trip north, gearing up to face Cumberland University Saturday, September 18th at 2 pm.
For up-to-date information on this games and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by play, and feature stories of your TU men's soccer team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMSocc.
