The Eastern Mennonite men's soccer team hosted Guilford Saturday afternoon. After pregame ceremonies honoring the parents of the EMU players, the teams sailed through a scoreless first 62 minutes. The final 28 minutes saw three goals as the visiting Quakers stole a 2-1 win.

The Royals played the game without leading-goal scorer Mitchell Leap (Harrisonburg/Eastern Mennonite) and the rest of the offense picked up the slack on the attack. The men controlled the first 20 minutes, but couldn't get a goal to show for it.

The Quakers finally settled into their offense, but Ryan Baker (Virginia Beach, Va./Menchville) was solid in goal.

EMU got a great chance to score in the closing minute of the half. Jay Shearer (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) ripped a shot which the Guilford keeper saved. Barkot Akalu (Shoa, Ethiopia) was right there to pick up the rebound, but had a tough angle and hit the post with 15 seconds left on the clock.

After the scoreless first half, the Quakers hit the net first in the second. A free kick out of the sun caught Baker off-guard and slipped off his fingers in the 63rd minute.

Seven minutes later, the Royals got the equalizer. Jordan Lehman (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) lofted a cross from the right side to Bryce Shank (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) who tied the game with his third goal of the season.

But Guilford's speedy forwards kept on the attack and put the visitors back in front, 2-1, with a goal in the 83rd minute.

The men got a pair of shots in the closing minutes, but both went wide and they took the defeat.

EMU had a slight edge in shots, 20-19, but the Quakers were up in shots on goal, 11-6. Baker finished with nine saves.

Shank was the only Royal with more than one shot on goal.

The Royals slide to 3-11-1 overall with the loss and 1-5-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. EMU has a week off before traveling to Hampden-Sydney next Saturday.