Sabercats no Match for Sabres on the Road

Fond du Lac, Wis. -- The Sabercats' bid for a season-opening win was denied by the hard-working Marian University Sabres on a cool night in Fond du Lac. With 2 goals in each half, the hosts took the victory by a score of 4-0.

The Basics

• Result: Sabercats 0-4 Sabres
• Venue: Smith Field
• Attendance: 219
• Sabercats: now 0-1

The Sabercats started with promise, as they held a decent amount of possession while threatening the Marian goal. Despite the Sabercats' eagerness, however, the Sabres created the most chances, as Alonso Fragoso knocked on the door with two attempts that sailed high. 

Marian soon had the breakthrough, as a long ball over the Sabercats' back line landed at the feet of Muhammed Abshir, who dribbled into the box on the right side and slotted a finish into the lower-left corner. In 10 minutes, it was Marian 1-0 Maranatha.

Just 9 minutes later, Fragoso's persistence paid off when he found the back of the net with a textbook volley from outside the box. Fragoso's effort sunk under the crossbar in the top-left corner and moved the score to 2-0 in favor of Marian.

The score remained 2-0 going into halftime. Determined defending from Caleb Hockema and Nathan Campbell, coupled with 2 saves from Andrew Taylor, kept the Sabres off the scoresheet for the rest of the half.

Just over 10 minutes into the second half, Fragoso would add his second. This time, he worked his way into the Sabercats' penalty area where he was fouled from behind to earn a penalty kick. Fragoso stepped up and buried the P.K. into the right corner to put the Sabres securely in the driver's seat.

The fourth goal came from Abshir, who bookended the scoring for Marian. The Sabres pounced on a Sabercat giveaway and finished their counter-attack via Abshir, who had a mirror-image strike from his first goal. Abshir ran on to a through ball and entered the penalty area on the left side before slotting his finish into the lower-right corner. The goal came in the 71st minute and was the final significant act in the match as Marian took home the emphatic win.

With the win, the Sabres move to 1-0 and now hold a 3-1-1 advantage in the series in the last five fixtures. 

The Sabercats' next test will be at home against the Regents of Rockford University. Since 2010, the Sabercats hold a 3-1-1 record against RU.

The match will kick off Tuesday at 4 p.m. Watch the game live via YouTube at mbusabercats.com/live.