The Falcons (7-1-0, 2-0-0 AMC), who received votes in the latest NAIA poll, got on the scoreboard in the 20th minute when George Kephart gathered a loose ball in the box and beat the MVNU defense for a 1-0 lead.

The score remained that way until there was just 2:26 left in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Steve Armstrong made a run up the left flank and crossed the ball to senior forward Adam Worrall (left). Worrall headed the ball just off the bottom of the crossbar and into the back of the net to knot the score at 1-1. It was Worrall’s team-leading ninth goal of the year and 31st of his career as he moved into eighth place all by himself on the school’s all-time list.

Neither team was able to score again until the 73rd minute when the Cougar defense failed to clear a ball in front of the net and that allowed Notre Dame’s Luke Holmes to come in and score what would prove to be the game-winner as the Falcons went in front 2-1.

Less than three minutes later, freshman forward Chris Allen nearly equalized for MVNU (4-3-2, 1-1-2 AMC), but his shot was cleared off the line by a Notre Dame defender to keep the Falcons’ lead intact.

Notre Dame posted a 15-10 advantage in total shots including a 9-4 edge in the second half. The Falcons also led 8-5 in shots on goal and 5-2 in corner kicks, but their physical play saw them whistled for 22 fouls and three yellow cards to just 11 fouls for the Cougars. MVNU junior goalkeeper Alex Stout posted five saves including two shots at point-blank range, while senior defender Zach Patterson also cleared a ball off the goal line. Notre Dame goalie Craig Pickering registered three saves in goal.

“Today was definitely a disappointment especially in light of the fact that we had a great opportunity to make a big stride forward in our conference on our home field,” said MVNU coach Paul Furey. “We just did not get it done. We allowed what I felt were two pretty soft goals which is not typical of us this season. They were a very aggressive team coming at us. We did a better job of withstanding some of the more dangerous attacks, but then we allowed a couple of goals that probably should have never happened at that point.”

“We had a good showing from several of our reserve players,” Furey added. “Steve came in off the bench and gave us some quality minutes off the bench and a big service to Adam to get us level at halftime. That was a huge thing for us. However, overall, we were not at the level that we needed to be at to beat a team like Notre Dame. We will have to pull up our boots and get back to work. Losing to a good team does not jeopardize what we want to accomplish at the end of the season.”

The Cougars will look to return to their winning ways on Saturday when the team will travel to Shawnee State University for another conference match that will start at 4:00 p.m.