LaGRNAGE, GA. - Berea men's soccer team traveled to LaGrange College for their second game of the season, and the second game on the road. The Mountaineers started slow out of the gate which put them behind the 8-ball. The Mountaineers were unable to recover from early defensive miscues and lost 5-1 to the LaGrange Panthers.
The Mountaineers struggled heavily on defense to start the game, giving up 3 goals within the first 21 minutes of the game. Blake Webb was able to score in the 1st minute of the game after Enrique Hernandez was able to win the ball off of a Mountaineer. In the 9th minute, a defensive miscue was again taken advantage of by the Panthers, with a goal from Cam Perkins, who was left alone in the box. The goal was assisted by Blake Webb. In the 21st minute, Cam Perkins was again left alone in the box and was found by Jaydon Parrish to give Perkins his second goal of the game. After only registering 1 shot in the game in the first 25 minutes of the game, the Mountaineers were finally able to hold possession and build up play for the final 20 minutes of the 1st half. The Mountaineers were able to register 5 shots in the final 20 minutes with 4 of them being on goal. The Mountaineers were unable to find the back of the net and went into halftime down 3-0.
In the second half the Panthers again started strong, scoring a goal in the 58th minute on a free kick by Enrique Hernandez. Even with a 4-0 lead, the Panthers kept the pressure on the Mountaineers' defense and were again able to score in the 58th minute by Austin Anderson, who was released by a through ball from Satchel Hart. The Mountaineers however did not stop trying to score either. Juan Mercado was able to get the Mountaineers on the board with a Sports Center Top 10 worthy goal from midfield. Mercado was able to send an absolute screamer on a free kick to beat the goalkeeper for the Panthers. The Mountaineers continued to apply pressure to the Panthers but were unable to score again. The final score line was 5-1 for the Panthers.
Up next, the Mountaineers will be back on the road against LaGrange College on Sunday, February 28th at 2 PM.
