Chester, Pa. – In Thursday afternoon's season opening loss to Washington College, the Neumann University men's soccer team opened the game with a poor start. On Saturday evening at Widener University, the team started well but finished the game poorly, conceding a late goal to fall 1-0 to the Pride.

Unlike the season opener Thursday versus Washington College, the match started with lots of energy from the Knights. In the first ten minutes of the match, junior forward Jake McDevitt worked his way behind the Widener backs twice, only to see both shot attempts saved by the Pride's goalkeeper. Neumann continued to carry play for the remainder of the first half, outshooting Widener 8-5. Despite having the better of the play, the Knights were unable to score and the game went to the half tied at zero.

The second half saw the game open up a bit, and both teams had several chances to break the deadlock. Neumann's best chance came in the 62^nd minute as junior midfielder Christian Cortese got in behind the Pride backline, only to have his shot blocked by a scrambling defender. Widener nearly opened the scoring in the 78^th minute, but a diving fingertip save by Neumann goalie Shane Smith kept the game scoreless. The sophomore net-minder finished the match with nine saves on the night.

The game would not be scoreless for much longer though, as Widener finally broke through in the 81^st minute. Smith made an initial diving save off of a headed cross, but the Pride's Dylan Pratzner banged home the rebound to give his team a lead they would not relinquish. Neumann applied late pressure and had a few late chances to knot the game up, but could not find the back of the net.

Neumann (0-2) will look to rebound next Wednesday when it returns home to face Arcadia University. Kick-off is set for 4:00 PM.