The soccer team lost 3-1 to the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks in the season opener Sept. 6.

“We gave up four shots and they scored three,” Doug Elder, head soccer coach, said. “Also the ejection hurt too. We had to play with 10 men for about 35 minutes.”

In the second half, B.A. Catney made the team’s only goal. Soon after, Dan Johns went for the and collided with Fort Lewis goalie Ryan Schaul, causing Johns to receive a red card and sit out with no replacement.

“Once we got the red card, it was a numbers game from there,” Kyle Baccus, a redshirt freshman midfielder, said.

After losing Johns, Fort Lewis took a comfortable lead with Jordan Alexander’s penalty goal, and a team effort shot at the 63 minute mark, putting them at 3-1.

“It doesn’t help when you play with 10 men for 33 minutes,” Elder said. “We have been giving them great positions to score.”

Fans and friends were outraged with chants of “stop the clock” and “stop slowing the game ref,” but in general many knew what was causing the problem.

“[The game] was pretty crappy,” Seth Lyons, junior in marketing, said. “We have to pressure the ball more.”

After the game, Elder spoke to the team about stepping up and getting them to realize where they could improve.

“Be the man. Be the one who wants to score the goal. If I don’t get the goal then I sprint back and start again,” Elder said. “Some of you guys are hiding out wide and just serving it in.”

Along with criticism, Elder provided compliments telling them to “take this fire” and practice to do better in the season.

“We are going to get better as long as we don’t go home and blow the game off,” Elder said.