Marion, Ind. - The Marian men's soccer team saw their unbeaten start to the 2023 season come to an end on Saturday night, as the Knights were defeated by No. 20 Indiana Wesleyan 5-1. The Knights first loss of the season in their Crossroads League opener drops their overall mark on the season to 5-1-2.

Indiana Wesleyan flexed their muscles in the first half against Marian, opening league play with four first half goals against the Knights defense. The Wildcats' Jose Garcia netted the games first goal in the fifth minute, while Brandon Nyagurungo scored what would stand as the game winning goal in the 22nd minute. Keiji Nakamae would answer Nyagurungo's goal in the 26th minute of the night, however Marian was unable to keep a one-score game as Indiana Wesleyan answered with a score 83 seconds after Nakamae's score. 

The Wildcats would add another goal to their first half total in the 36th minute to take a 4-1 lead into halftime. After the break, Marian's defense settled in and played stronger, allowing just one goal to the Wildcats in the final 45 minutes, which came in the 63rd minute. After allowing 12 shot attempts in the first half, Marian yielded just six in the second half, with three coming on goal.

In the defeat, Marian was out-shot 18-8, while losing the corner kick margin 4-3. The Knights' leader in shot attempts in the defeat was Evan Dawdy, Sam Goodin, and Josh Wesseling, who each had two attempts. Nakamae scored on his only shot attempt of the night, while Yoshiaki Takeishi and Wesseling had the only other shots on goal for the team.

In goal for the Knights, Juan Torres suffered his first loss of the season, allowing all five goals. Torres made a season-high eight saves in the loss, seeing 13 shots come his direction in the match.

Marian will seek their first points in Crossroads League play on Wednesday night as they host Goshen College at 7 p.m.

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