The Dalton State soccer team suffered the program’s first loss to an experienced laden Cumberland University (TN) squad 4-2 at the Lakeshore Park Soccer Complex Friday night.
A packed house of over 500 fans were treated to a high intensity defensive battle early on that saw both teams go into the break scoreless. The second period proved to be a different story as both teams lit up the scoreboard with a total of six goals scored.
The Bulldogs struck first as midfielder Elliot Goodwin gave Cumberland an early 1-0 lead ten minutes into the second period of play.
The Roadrunners responded quickly with a goal from freshman forward Tomide Adabale that was setup by a brilliant assist from freshman Romiro Guerrero.
The scoring didn’t slow down as Brian McNamara and Sella Gannit scored back to back goals off of assist from Josh Armstrong. The Roadrunners continued to try to claw their way back into the game as Tomide Adabale scored his second goal of the game and fourth of the season with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
In the end, the experience of the Cumberland squad that returned nine starters from their 2014 team that finished 2nd in the MWC proved to be too much as Marty Owens put the game out of reach with the Bulldogs fourth and final goal with under two minutes remaining in the game.
"We have four freshman and a freshman goalkeeper, but it was a good game for us," said Coach Kerem Daser. "We need some experience and to learn from it and be humble, be down to earth. It's a long season and we'll take it one game at a time."
The game featured 15 shots by the Roadrunners, 8 of which were on goal, with 2 finding their way to the net. The Bulldogs were extremely effective scoring 4 goals off 8 shots, 6 of which were in goal.
With the win, Cumberland University moves to 1-0 on the season and Dalton State falls to 2-1-1. Dalton State will return to action on September 6th at Lakeshore Park Soccer Complex versus Brescia College at 1:00PM.