ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's soccer team couldn't keep its momentum rolling on Saturday afternoon, dropping a 3-1 result to visiting Ursinus College in non-conference action.
 
Freshman Chris Siemien scored his first career goal in the loss, while Jon Yinger also earned his first collegiate point with an assist. Seth Walker was strong in goal, stopping six shots in the loss.
 
Unlike Thursday's game versus Penn State Abington, the Knights would strike first in Saturday's non-conference tilt. After stringing a few passes together in their own end midway through the half, the hosts fired a ball into Yinger at midfield and let him do the rest. Using some outstanding foot work and excellent pace, the freshman forward spun around one defender at the midfield line, outraced a second, then touched a ball past a third deep in the Ursinus end before serving a perfect ball across the top of box. A hard charging Siemien met the ball in stride just inside the box and struck a well placed shot low into the bottom right hand corner to give Neumann an early 1-0 lead.
 
The visitors would take control of the half from there though, applying pressure in the Knights' end with relentless crosses from wide areas. The Bears tallied ten shots in the half and were rewarded with an equalizer in the 36th minute as a floated service from the left flank found a wide open Ursinus player at the back post with a tap in header to tie things up at 1-1. The game looked to be heading to halftime tied, but the visitors struck again with under a minute left in the first frame. A Knight defender was knocked to the ground on a 50/50 challenge at the back post and Ursinus banged home the resulting loose ball to send the game to halftime at 2-1 in favor of the Bears.
 
Neumann looked to get back into the contest early in the second half but another bad bounce doubled their deficit. A cross from the Bears glanced off a Neumann defender's head high into the air and resulted in Walker and a Ursinus forward clattering into one another. Again the visitors scooped up the loose ball and deposited into the net to make it 3-1 and create an even bigger uphill climb for the Knights. Neumann recorded four second half shots in an attempted comeback bid, but could not find the back of the net again as the game finished 3-1 in favor of the Bears.
 
Neumann (2-3) will look to shake off its first home defeat with a few days rest before taking on Stockton University at home on Wednesday, September 15th. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 PM.