The Lancaster Bible College men's soccer team played soccer after Thanksgiving for the first time in the program's 47-year history on Monday evening, but top-seeded Southwestern Christian (Okla.) scored a goal in each half, and held off the Chargers, 2-0 in the opening game for each team in the 2018 NCCAA Division I Men's Soccer National Tournament.
 
The Chargers are now 12-9-1 overall this season, while the top-seeded Eagles improved to 16-4-1 overall.
 
Game Recap: Southwestern Christian, the two-time defending NCCAA Div. I National Champions, started strong, as they attempted three shots and had a corner in the opening 15 minutes. Each of the three early shots missed the goal, but Lancaster Bible goalkeeper Jake Deterline made his first save of the evening at 24:47, as he knocked down a shot by Alexander Koziolek.
 
After another save by Deterline a few minutes later, the Eagles found the back of the net at 32:30, as Moritz Kulick scored his second goal of the year off a feed from Javier Verdu Sanchez.
 
Deterline kept the deficit at one two minutes later, as he made his third save of the game, and Mother Nature took her best shot two minutes after that, as a driving rain halted play for 50 minutes at the 36:43 mark.
 
Play resumed, and after a few chippy moments between the teams, the half ended, and since the weather delay came so close to the half, the official halftime was just a couple of minutes long, as opposed to the traditional 15-minute break.
 
Lancaster Bible had an offensive push early in the second half, as the Chargers had three straight corner kicks over a 90-second span. The Chargers' first shot on goal came at 58:26, as Dylan Shertzer's shot was blocked by Milos Milovic, and it turned out to be a big save, as the Eagles doubled their lead 1:30 later on a goal by Alexandre De Silva. Southwestern Christian's Jamie Campbell took the ball down the right side of the field, and centered it to De Silva who scored to the far post for his second goal of the season.
 
The Chargers tried to cut into the deficit, but the Eagles defense clamped down throughout the second half, and sent Lancaster Bible to its third straight loss.
 
By the Numbers: Southwestern Christian led in shots, 13-4, including 6-2 in shots on goal…The Chargers had three corner kicks, while the Eagles had two…Deterline finished with four saves, and the teams combined for six yellow cards.
 
The Coach Says: "It's tough to lose today, but I'm proud of our effort against a very skilled team," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Tom Ardt said. "We defended well as a unit against their attack, and had one crucial mistake in the first half. We had more composure in the second half in terms of possession, and were able to create a few quality chances. Eventually we had to send numbers forward and press, but despite our efforts, Southwestern Christian controlled the match and got the three points."
 
Information Hodge Podge: This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools…This was the first time Lancaster Bible played a team from Oklahoma in soccer…This is the second three-game losing streak of the season for the Chargers, though this one comes under different circumstances, as the Chargers have played possibly the three best teams on their schedule over the past three games with contests against Penn St. Abington, Grace (Ind.), and Southwestern Christian…The aforementioned teams have a combined 44 victories this season.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible will play its second game of pool play on Tuesday, as the Chargers take on sixth-seed Judson at 5 p.m...Judson will then face Southwestern Christian on Wednesday.