Despite holding the shot advantage of Central Methodist University on Wednesday night, (21) Benedictine Men's Soccer came up short in its regular-season finale on Legacy Field as CMU scored a first-half goal that proved to be the difference as the Ravens fell 1-0.
The Ravens (10-5-3, 7-4-3 Heart) outshot the Eagles (8-4-4, 6-1-3 Heart) 14-9, but were unable to find the equalizer despite several quality scoring opportunities throughout the match.
Benedictine generated early pressure, forcing Central Methodist goalkeeper Niccolo Cabras into a save on a shot by Juan Piratova in the 13th minute. Kody Argaez followed with an attempt that went wide before Fabian Viquez nearly broke through in the 18th minute, sending a shot off the crossbar.
Central Methodist capitalized on its opportunity in the 25th minute when José Toledo scored an unassisted goal.
The Ravens continued to push forward following the goal, with Evan Frank sending a header over the crossbar in the 28th minute. Benedictine finished the opening half with six shots but entered halftime trailing 1-0.
Benedictine increased its offensive pressure in the second half, recording eight shots while limiting Central Methodist to four attempts.
Argaez forced another save from Cabras in the 54th minute before Piratova sent a shot wide in the 57th minute.
The Ravens came within inches of tying the match in the 63rd minute when Viquez struck the post for the second time. He followed with another attempt just over a minute later, but the shot went wide.
Viquez led Benedictine with four shots, while Piratova and Argaez finished with three each. Frank added two shots as the Ravens finished with the five-shot advantage.
In goal, Noah Reuscher recorded two saves for Benedictine.Â
While the Ravens have earned a spot in the Heart Men's Soccer Conference Tournament starting next week on Nov. 4, their seed and first-round opponent is not yet know with the remainder of the Heart concluding the season on Saturday.
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