DE PERE, Wis. – The Carthage College men's soccer team fell for the first time in 2018, as the Red Men dropped their first game of the St. Norbert College Tournament Friday night to the host Green Knights, 2-1.
 
The loss sends the Red Men to 1-1 on the season, while St. Norbert improves to 4-0 on the young season.
 
"We certainly let one slip away today," said head coach Steve Domin after the loss.  "St. Norbert is a nice side.  They play very hard but our pace should had been enough to get a result today.  Surrendering a goal in the open minutes, essentially on the opening series, is a tough way to start a match after a long bus ride.  But it never really felt like we were down, which may have been the underlining, sense of urgency issue."
 
Carthage found themselves down early as a third minute goal by the by the Green Knights quickly put the Red Men behind, 1-0.
 
The 1-0 deficit held through the first half but the Red Men suffered another setback in the 44th minute as Adrian Herrera was sent off after receiving a red card late in the half to put Carthage down to ten men.
 
The Red Men overcame being down a man just seven minutes into the second half, as Ivan Esquivel netted his second goal of the season to tie the match at 1-1 in the 52nd minute.
 
St. Norbert however didn't allow the game to be tied for long, as just four minutes later they scored what proved to be the game-winner on a header that beat Carthage's Niko Mavrogiannis in the 57th minute.
 
Despite being down a man for more than half the match, the Red Men still outshot the Green Knights 10-6 in the match.
 
Domin noted, "Playing a man down the the second half was a tall order, but seemed to kick start the engine for us.  I wish we had 5 or 10 minutes more tonight.  It felt like we were going to get it done."
 
Carthage will return to action on Sunday after a day-off when the Red Men take on the Vikings of Lawrence University to wrap-up the St. Norbert College Tournament.  Sunday's match is set for 1:30 p.m. in De Pere.