The Royals comeback attempt came up short Saturday afternoon, ending in a 2-1 loss to Hampden-Sydney in Harrisonburg.  EMU rallied with less than ten minutes to play, but could only manage one late goal in front of a big Homecoming crowd.

The men played a scoreless draw with the Tigers in the first half, although each team had a few chances.  But with the wet field, it felt like the opponents were simply waiting for someone to make a slippery mistake.

Eastern Mennonite made the first miscue in the 56th minute, turning the ball over just outside of the top of the box.  HSC's Robert Stephens grabbed the ball and punched it at goalie Andrew Yoder (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite).  His punch save deflected the ball up, and it bounded into the net before any of the men's defenders could clear it.

Hampden-Sydney caught another break in the 81st minute, getting fouled outside of the corner of the box.  The free kick was headed in by Davis Carter for  a 2-0 lead.

The Royals put their attack into high gear and Caleb Golladay (Mt. Jackson, Va./Stonewall Jackson) just missed scoring when his header in the 83rd minute hit the crossbar.  Finally EMU was fouled on a breakaway.  Joao Downs (Limon, Costa Rica/Colegio de Limon Diurno) buried the free kick from 20 yards out, slicing the deficit in half.  But that was the last shot the men attempted as they took the one-goal loss.

The men had a slight 17-16 edge in shots, although shots on goal were 6-4 in favor of the Tigers.  Christian Rhine (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) topped all players with five attempts.  Yoder finished with four saves.

Eastern Mennonite falls to 3-10 with the loss, including 1-6 in the ODAC.  They have their final non-conference game of the year on Tuesday, playing a 7:00pm game at Dickinson.