SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University men's soccer team came within inches of completing a frenetic comeback on Wednesday afternoon but fell short by a 2-1 final at Shippensburg University to open Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action. The Huskies dropped to 1-3 overall while the Raiders improved to 1-1-1 on the season. It was the divisional opener for both teams.

With the Huskies trailing 2-1 and three-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation, Shippensburg starting goalkeeper Bradley Brickman was given a red card which ejected him from the contest and awarded Bloomsburg a penalty kick against backup netminder Jacob Zlotshewer. Redshirt sophomore Olly Whitham (Clitheroe, Lancashire, England/Settle College) beat Zlotshewer on the attempt but his shot nailed the post to keep the score intact. Less than two minutes later, Zlotshewer came up with a huge save on senior Mike Bazadona III (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) to, again, keep the Huskies from tying the match. One last hurrah came in the form of a corner kick with 49 seconds left, but Bloomsburg was unable to get a shot off and the Raiders escaped with the one-goal victory.

A fast start by the Raiders put the Huskies behind the eight ball early as Shippensburg scored both of its goals in the opening seven minutes of the game. Seth Crabbe put the Raiders on the board with assists from Erik Espinoza and Corbin Martin in the second minute and then Cory Ferguson scored at 6:59 to push the lead to 2-0.

The score remained the same until sophomore Bryce Evans (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) netted his first collegiate goal in the 72nd minute to cut the Raiders' lead in half at 2-1. Evans intercepted a failed clearing attempt by Shippensburg and beat Brickman with a shot from the top of the arc. That goal by Evans set up the wild finish.

The Huskies held a 19-8 advantage in shot attempts but only had four on goal - Evans, Bazadona, freshman Stephen Hollis (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East), and junior Kacper Grycel (Allentown, Pa./Emmaus). Bloomsburg also held a 9-4 edge in corner kick opportunities. Freshman Nolan Michaels (Independence, Ohio/St. Vincent - St. Mary) dropped to 1-2 on the season and was not credited with a save as only two of Shippensburg's eight attempts were on target. Meanwhile, Brickman earned the win to improve to 1-1-1 on the season.