Two years ago the EMU soccer men earned their first victory over powerhouse Virginia Wesleyan in 15 games.  On Saturday, the Royals took a lead in the first and looked for their second win over VWC in three years, but couldn't hold them off and suffered a 2-1 set-back.

The Marlins came out full of steam, firing the first 13 shots of the game.  Most were off goal and Andrew Yoder (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) had three saves to keep the score at zeros.  Eastern Mennonite then took over momentum, with Jonathan Bush (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) making a run to excite the home crowd.  In the 29th minute he had a shot blocked, and his then rebounded shot bounced off the post.

In the 42nd minute, the Royals struck gold.  David Hooley (Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) made a great drive up the right side, and fired a cross which Jordan Hollinger (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) calmly stuck in the net for a 1-0 lead.

Virginia Wesleyan had the same head of steam to start the second, and knocked in the equalizer after a corner kick just two and a half minutes into the frame.  Then in the 71st minute, the Royals failed to cleanly clear the ball from the defensive end, and the Marlins found it for a score and their first lead.

The men had a handful of offensive chances after that, but were choked out by the VWC back line.  EMU even earned a corner kick in the final 12 seconds, but couldn't get off a shot and took the loss.

The Marlins had a 30-8 edge in shots, although only eight were on goal.  Yoder finished with five saves.

Hollinger, Christian Rhine (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) and Dilmer Martinez (Dayton, Va./Turner Ashby) had the Royals only shots on goal.

EMU falls to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the ODAC.  They step back out of conference play on Tuesday, hosting Wesley College at 7:00pm.