ST. CATHARINES, Ont - The Brock University men's soccer team (1-5-4 OUA) suffered a tough 2-1 loss at the hands of the No. 2 ranked York Lions (9-0-1) Saturday afternoon.

The game got off to quick start with York creating their first goal scoring opportunity just 30 seconds into the game off of a solo effort from striker Jarek Whiteman.

At this point Brock realized that they would have to play their best game of the season in order to get any points. The Lions strategy was clear from the very beginning. They wanted to control the ball in the midfield, and then try and break down the Brock backline with quick one touch passing in the attacking zone. Brock's defence was up for the task. Led by centre backs Eric Bradey and Eseosa Agbonwaneten, the Brock backline played very stubborn defence in the first 20 minutes, only allowing York one shot on net during this time frame. Brock's offensive players showed stints of positive play, but struggled to sustain any type of possession early on. 

The first goal of the game came in the 32nd minute when York's Matt Stinson scored off a rebound from Brock goalie Matt Zoikos, who had just denied a breakaway goal from Joey Cicchillo. The Lions were back on the score sheet just a few minutes later when Brock's Robert Demelo pulled down a York player inside the 18 yard box, awarding York a penalty kick in the 36th minute. York midfielder Jonathan Lao made no mistake, firing a low shot passed Zoikos into the bottom right corner to give York a 2-0 lead.

The Badgers got their first goal scoring opportunity in the 48th minute when substitute Yan Ilic fired a shot off York goalkeeper Andrew D'Souzas' hands, directly onto the foot of Sammy Orlando who was all alone in front of net, but just missed with his shot as it sailed over the crossbar. This near goal seemed to have sparked the home side as they began playing with more energy. In the 58th minute, Orlando got his redemption by placing a left footed strike passed D'Souza to make the game 2-1. 

Brock continued to push for the equalizer late in the game, creating scoring chances off crosses and long range shots, but none of these chances were good enough to beat starter Colm Vance, who returned to the game after being injured at the end of the first half. 

Unfortunately the Badgers just ran out of time as the game came to a conclusion with the final score of 2-1 in favour of the York Lions. 

The Badgers will be on the road for their next game, which is against Guelph on Sunday.