#12 Tartans Battle in 1-0 Defeat to #22 Montclair State

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - Despite controlling the entire second half with the visitors down a man, the #12 Carnegie Mellon University men's soccer team couldn't get one through the defense as it fell 1-0 to #22 Montclair State University in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship.

The Tartans held possession for the majority of the first half and earned three corner kicks in the first 18 minutes. Senior Max Tassano (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Lower Merion) had the first shot on goal for the game when he found himself one-on-one with the keeper. With the defense retreating and pressuring, Tassano laced a shot on goal that was smacked away by Red Hawk keeper Kevin Lynch in the 27th minute.

The Red Hawks (16-3-3) collected the save and possessed the ball, moving in their own final third of the field. After a shot by Brian Cullen, the Red Hawks had a deep throw-in. That throw-in wasn't cleared well by the Tartan defense and Lucas Terci ended up with the ball moving away from the goal. He quickly turned and fired a shot low and through traffic that shielded Tartan keeper Christopher Madden's (Reisterstown, Md./Calvert Hall) view and got through to the back of the net for a 1-0 Red Hawk lead in the 30th minute.

Montclair State continued to hold the possession through the first half and put another two shots on goal. Both shots were from beyond 20 yards and right at Madden who made the saves.

With the Red Hawks playing down a man since the 33rd minute, the Tartans held all the possession in the second half but couldn't get a good shot off through the defense that packed the box and made it difficult.

The Tartans put four shots on goal for the half by Lynch was there each time to corral it or knock it away, twice making miraculous saves to keep the Tartans off the board. Lynch's final save came in the final 30 seconds when sophomore Connor Webb (Dallas, Texas/J.J. Pearce) couldn't get enough on a shot as he was directly in front of Lynch when the ball fell to his foot.

The Tartans close their season with a 12-3-3 record with their second straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.