Harrisonburg, VA - The men's soccer team traveled to Harrisonburg, Va., to the home of Eastern Mennonite University, and made a good fight of it but came up just short.

Box Score

The Royals, who compete in one of the toughest conferences in the country, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, were hosting their home-opener. Backed by around 200 supporters, EMU were favorites heading into the game. The Royals had the lions share of possession but were struggling to carve out any clear chances against a stubborn Cairn defense. The Highlanders were their own undoing, however, in the 21st minute. With the Royals unable to make their own breakthrough, the Highlander defense gifted EMU a golden opportunity when Mark Mast stripped the ball from a Cairn defender on the end line and dribbled in on goal unopposed, slotting the ball home and giving the home side the 1-0 lead.

The game carried the same pattern through to halftime, with Cairn conceeding territory and possession but refusing to give the Royals anything decent at goal, looking to hit on the couter-attack. Freshman midfielder Craig Kikendall (Philadelphia, PA / LaSalle) lashed a shot just wide early in the half, but Cairn's best chance of the half came from some hard-work from sophomore Cody Mosely (Newport News, VA / Denbigh Baptist). Playing in his home state and in front of family, Mosely applied pressure on EMU's goalkeeper, Andrew Yoder, after a backpass and caught the keeper taking one too many touches. Mosely's tackle saw the ball pop back in front of an empty net but there was no one to knock the ball home before the Royals defense cleared.

The second half saw the Royals come out with renewed energy and a determination to put the game away with another goal. Highlanders goalkeeper David Shaffer (Denver, PA / Garden Spot), however, did his part with several big saves to keep Cairn within one goal. Shaffer would finish with 7 saves on the night. After some tatical shifts, the Highlanders started to stem the flow of EMU's attacks but still needed to find their own breakthrough. That opportunity came in the 79th minute when a Highlander free-kick was headed back across the EMU box to senior forward Seth Mangum (Souderton, PA / Souderton), who failed to realize the time and space he had with only the Royal's keeper to beat. Mangum's quickly taken shot had the EMU keeper beaten but trickled inches wide of the near post, and with it the Highlanders best chance for an equaliser.

With Cairn now throwing men forward in search of the game-tying goal, EMU put the game out of reach with their second goal of the game with only 28 seconds left on the clock. The Royal's Jonathan Bush ripped a shot off the crossbar, with Sebastian Olguin in position to head in the rebound.

Cairn falls to 0-2 on the season, while the Royals improve to 1-1-1.

Things won't get any easier for the Highlanders as they take part in the Rutgers-Camden Ciallela Classic this weekend in Camden, NJ. On Saturday, the team faces off against MAC opponent Arcadia University at 2pm before returning on Sunday to take on the Skyline defending champions St. Joseph's (Long Island). That game is also scheduled for a 2pm kick-off.