Lions Drop Season Opener To Limestone In Overtime

MARS HILL, N.C. – The Mars Hill men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 decision in its season-opener against Limestone on Thursday night at Meares Stadium.

Limestone took the early 1-0 advantage at the 22-minute mark following a corner kick as Aaron Dowsett got his boot on the ball and snuck it past the keeper. The Lions were presented a golden opportunity just a few ticks later when senior midfielder Amine Merdjett showed fancy footwork to shake a defender, but his scoring try just missed the top-right corner of the cage. The Saints held onto the 1-0 advantage through the first 45 minutes of action.

Mars Hill was finally able to breakthrough 20 minutes into the second frame. Following a short corner the Lions pushed the ball into the box where a red card was issued to a Saints defender. Sophomore midfielder Ian Wu made true of the freebie, blasting the rock past the keeper to knot the match at 1-1.

While playing with a man-up advantage, Mars Hill had several chances to break the deadlock, but Limestone's net minder was equal to the task, knocking away ball-after-ball from the Lions offense. After 90 minutes of play the match remained tied and called for overtime.

A pivotal foul called in the box three minutes into the first free period set Limestone up for the game-winning goal.

Merdjett and sophomore defender Franck Lannaud led the Lions with three shots each while goalie Ben Lucas contributed three saves.

Mars Hill will be back in action on Wednesday, September 7, traveling to Bristol, Tenn. to take on King University. That contest is set to begin at 4 p.m.