EMU's soccer men suffered a disappointing 3-0 loss at rival Bridgewater Wednesday afternoon.  The decision leaves the Royals in a tie for ninth place with five points in ODAC play.  A win would have jumped the men into a four-way tie for fifth place, while a tie would have moved them to eighth.  At 1-3-2 in the ODAC, the Royals have played just over half of their 11 league contests.

Bridgewater, which earned their first conference win, struck early on their home field, scoring on a close-range header in the 17th minute.  Nine minutes later, they scored again on a rifled shot from 30 yards out.

Wanting to start the second half strong, the Royals had a few shots over the opening seven minutes.  But BC struck on a counterattack in the 54th minute to mount the 3-0 lead.

EMU was out-shot 17-10, including 6-3 on goal.  Juan Luna (Mount Jackson, Va./Stonewall Jackson), Emmanuel Boamah (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) and Derek Harnish (Strasburg, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg) had the on-target shots.  Daniel Nyce (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) made three saves.

The Royals hit a tough stretch over the next week-and-a-half, playing three of the top five teams in the ODAC.  That starts Saturday at Lynchburg, with a 4:00pm start against the Hornets.