After a strong start to the season, the Carthage College Red Men (3-2) have found themselves having lost their last two games, a position they did not expect to be in this early in the season. Carthage Traveled to Crawfordsville, Ind. to take part in the first day of the 2016 Midwest Classic hosted by Wabash.
 
The Red Men faced off against the Hanover College Panthers (2-1) on Saturday, September 10^th at 1 p.m. EST in front of a crowd of about 100 people for the neutral site match.
 
The game did not start off great for the Red Men as they allowed a goal by Hanover's Dominic Isadore in the fourth minute of play. A few minutes later, the Red Men took a huge and potentially game changing blow as Giles Phillips received a red card in the 14^th minute of competition. This would leave Carthage a man down for the remainder of the match.
 
"Going down a man on an incredibly questionable call at midfield changed the entire game and what we could do up front for the remaining 70 minutes," said head coach Steve Domin. "I wish we could hit reset and have the last 72 hours back. We've been sitting in a funk."
 
In the 18^th minute of competition, Hanover's Thomas Doering would score their second goal of the first half, earning the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the game.
 
Despite being down by two, the Red Men were able to refocus and motivate themselves and in the 25^th minute, Austin Bitta connected with the ball and scored the first goal of the match for Carthage. The Red Men and Panthers would head to the locker room at halftime with the Panthers leading 2-1.
 
18 minutes into the second half Hanover's Matthew Eldridge would score on a header, extending the Panthers's lead to 3-1. Later in the 82^nd minute of play, Enrico Franchini would score the fourth and final goal for the Panthers. Hanover won the match 4-1 over the Red Men.
 
Augsint Bitta finished the game with five shots, with one connecting with the net to score one goal for the Red Men.
 
"A poor result overshadowed good performances by Ivan Esquivel and Kevin Mahoney," said Domin. "Austin Bitta hit the crossbar three times and if those would have snuck in we would have had ourselves a soccer match.  Mark my words this team can do some special things even in its youth. The injuries we've had and our inexperience is starting to show now in a difficult schedule."
 
The Red Men return to the pitch in Crawfordsville for day two of the 2016 Midwest Classic on Sunday, September 11^th at 1 p.m. ET as they take on the host, Wabash College.