The Carthage College men's soccer team (2-2-0, 0-0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) opened play at the Willamette University "Northwestern Valley Classic" on Saturday, Sept. 7 with a 2-0 loss to Willamette (3-0-0) at Sparks Field in Salem, Ore. Willamette was ranked seventh in the Sept. 3 National Soccer Coaches Association of America West Region poll.

The Bearcats took a 1-0 lead at 9:58 on a goal by Tyler Yates. Willamette made it 2-0 at 21:48 on a goal by Austin Jacobson. That was it for the scoring, despite the Red Men out-shooting the Bearcats by a 14-6 margin. Willamette goalkeeper Braydon Calder collected six saves in the contest.

"It seems like we have one of these games every year," said Carthage coach Steve Domin. "We dominate the stats, shots and corners but don't get the result we want. It was a lot like the La Verne game to start the year in California. We were carless with the ball a couple times in the back-third of the field and put Willamette in positions to score. Their goalkeeper was also really great today. All of that made it pretty hard to dig ourselves out. Even though we have a lot of new faces, this team is really exciting to watch. I am having a lot of fun finding out what works. I like our team and where we are going."

Carthage concludes tournament play on Sunday, Sept. 8 with a 10 a.m., PST contest against Whitman College (0-1-2).