Lions' soccer was a mixed bag this past week, as senior forward Matt Luber and company led the squad to a clutch 2-1 victory over conference rival Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
Then they followed it up with a demoralizing 3-0 shutout loss to Montclair State University Saturday evening.
Following the two games, the Lions are still struggling at one game under .500, floating at 3-4-1 overall and 1-2 within the conference.
In Wednesday's match against Stockton, the College fell behind early again, a reoccurring theme this season - the Lions have been scored on first in five out of eight games - as Ospreys freshman forward Sean McCallum drew first blood, scoring only 52 seconds into the contest.
The Ospreys capitalized on a Lions defensive mistake as McCallum raced down the field, placing a bullet past junior goalkeeper Matt Kasperavicius.
The Lions had to fight their way back against Ospreys sophomore goalkeeper Matt Hart who had not allowed a goal since the season opener, tallying an impressive 509 scoreless minutes in net.
Senior defenseman and tri-captain Tim Dudek was happy to shatter that streak, scoring in the 62nd minute to tie up the action at one apiece.
Possession went back and forth for the following 20 minutes until 81:55, when Luber took a feed from Dudek and scored his fourth goal of the season and his third game-winner to put the final nail in Stockton's coffin and solidify the 2-1 victory.
Against Montclair, the Lions played solid defense for the first half, limiting their mistakes and shutting out Montclair, playing them to a 0-0 stalemate at halftime.
The second half showed a much different team defensively, as the Red Hawks tore through the Lions' defense to tally nine shots on net and notch three goals.
The Montclair defense limited the College's opportunities offensively, holding them to a paltry three shots on target.
Kasperavicius was one of the lone bright spots in a rough game against a conference rival, making six saves against the barrage of shots he faced behind the struggling defense.
The next game for the Lions will be against another conference rival as they travel to Rutgers University-Camden tonight at 7 p.m.
