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Freshman defender Brett Day’s first half goal wasn’t enough as the St. Thomas men’s soccer team fell to Wisconsin-Superior 3-1 Monday, Sept. 17, in a non-conference game.

The Tommies (4-2-1, 1-0 MIAC) jumped out to a quick lead early in the game with an unassisted goal from Day in the 19th minute. That would turn out to be the lone goal for St. Thomas on a night where the team struggled to find the net.

Early in the second half, the Yellowjackets found the equalizing goal on a penalty shot by sophomore forward Ben Kasper. Moments later, Superior claimed the lead on a snipe by freshman midfielder Ryan Linsmayer. The shot caught the Tommie defense off-guard as junior goalkeeper Jace Leiferman dove unsuccessfully to stop the perfectly placed shot from 30 yards.

The Yellowjackets went on to score a third goal late in the game off a corner kick by sophomore midfielder John Levenick in the 83rd minute.

St. Thomas coach Jon Lowery wasn’t happy with how his team played in the second half.

“We had a false sense of security going up a goal,” Lowery said. “We paid a heavy price for taking a lot of moments off.”

The Tommies had multiple opportunities to score but weren’t able to capitalize.

“We moved the ball well on offense, we just couldn’t find the back of the net tonight,” junior midfielder Macalestir Enderson said.

St. Thomas outshot Superior 22-13 and had a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Despite a disappointing loss, the team is looking to get better individually and as a team every day.

“We will bounce back strong Wednesday and just keep growing as a team,” Leiferman said.

The Tommies are in the middle of a 14-day, six-game stretch and look to regain momentum on Wednesday as they travel to La Crosse, Wis. to face Viterbo University.

“We need to be better on all fronts,” Lowery said.

Kyle Jonas can be reached at jona7984@stthomas.edu.