No. 18 Tartans Battle in Home Opener Against No. 14 Kenyon

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's soccer team opened its season at home in the Carnegie Mellon DoubleTree Invitational against 14th-ranked Kenyon College. The 18th-ranked Tartans dropped a 3-0 decision that was closely played despite the scoreline.

Two opportunities by the Tartans in the first 24 minutes were stopped by Kenyon keeper Sam Clougher. In the 16th minute, sophomore Tristan Lockwood (Victor, N.Y./Victor) sliced a shot low and through traffic that Clougher had to scoop up to prevent the score. Eight minutes later, junior Connor Webb (Dallas, Texas/J.J. Pearce) had a similar attempt in traffic that was once again stopped by Clougher.

Kenyon was then able to press forward and capitalize on a switch of fields in the 31st minute when junior Jeremiah Barnes struck a shot to the center of the net over Tartan senior keeper Jacob Rice (Gahanna, Ohio/Gahanna LIncoln) from the left side of the 18-yard box. Barnes received a pass from Dalton Eudy.

Not even 20 seconds later, Kenyon won a ball and was racing toward the box when Rice had to challenge the play. Rice was called for a foul in the box, resulting in a penalty shot attempt that was scored by sophomore Tony Amolo for the Lords two-goal advantage.

Three minutes later, Tartan senior defender Jakob Rohwer (Southborough, Mass./Phillips Academy Andover) nearly cut the deficit in half with a free kick that he lasered just over the crossbar from about 30 yards out.

Kenyon's Rei Mitsuyama started the second half with a quick strike to give the visiting team a 3-0 lead. The senior midfielder received a pass across the box that he struck to the near post that skimmed off a Tartan defender and got by Rice for the goal.

Webb had two shots in the second half for the Tartans, one which was saved by Clougher and the other ricocheted off the crossbar.

"I thought our team had moments in the match that we can build on," head coach Brandon Bowman said. "Although the result is not what we hoped for, I know we can learn from this game and use it to get better. Luckily, we have a quick turnaround and get the chance to play again tomorrow. We  look forward to playing well against Otterbein."

The Tartans will be back in action on Sunday, August 31 when they host Otterbein University during the second day of the DoubleTree Invitational. The match is set to start at 2:30 p.m.