The No. 4 St. Thomas men’s soccer lost its first game of the season Tuesday, falling 2-1 to No. 20 Luther College (Iowa) at South Field.
Defender Tristan Davenport broke the tie late in the first period for the Norse (0-0 ARC, 7-1 overall) to go into halftime with a 1-0 lead over the Tommies (1-0 MIAC, 5-1 overall). St. Thomas (1-0 MIAC, 5-1 overall) was able to tie the game in the second period, but a goal from Luther forward Faydane Ouro-Akondo in the 77th minute proved to be too much.
“You lose the set piece battle,” coach Jon Lowery said, “and you lose the game.”
Forward Jack Longville scored the only goal for the Tommies midway through the second half after he stole the ball from Luther goalie Lincoln Saxton’s feet and slotted the ball home.
Tommie goalkeeper Troy Louwagie came up big in the 66th minute when he made a great save on a one-on-one chance against a Norse attacker. Louwagie, who got the start over senior Aidan Hogan, said he was happy to get the chance to play.
“It felt really good,” he said. “I was just comfortable with it.”
Luther closed the game in the 77th minute off the match, when Ouro-Akondo scored after breaking free of a two-on-one chance.
Despite the loss, the Tommies are looking forward to putting the loss behind them and getting prepared to play their next game.
“We just take it one game at a time,” Tommie midfielder Will Kidd said. “We came out here and didn’t get the result we wanted but we have to move on.”
Kidd reflected on their first loss of the season, but he also said how they can move forward with positivity.
“We learned that we can make adjustments on the fly and execute them well.” he said. “We know we have grit and we know were hungry.”
Lowery said the game will serve as a point of growth moving forward.
“We may have not won the game, but we got better and that will serve us more going forward,” he said.
The Tommies will attempt to keep their MIAC undefeated streak alive Saturday at home as they take on Gustavus (2-0 MIAC, 5-1 overall).
Jacob Schneider can be reached at schn6923@stthomas.edu.