AURORA, Ill. (SabreAthletics.com) – The Marian University men's soccer team fell at the hands of host Aurora University, which tallied two first-half goals en route to a 2-0 victory at Metea Valley HS, this afternoon, Oct. 18.

The Sabres (5-10, 2-6 NACC) had a scoring opportunity go awry in the first few minutes and wasn't able to gain another one. The Spartans (9-4-2, 4-3 NACC) scored in the 20' and 24' to go ahead and never looked back.

"We went to Aurora with a smaller squad due to an abundance of recent injuries," Head Coach Craig Peltonen said. "We started slow, but defended well and held strong for a while."

It was just before the 4' mark that Marian's Jesse Mejia saw an empty net with the ball at his feet, but his shot went wide and the game remained scoreless.

Then, with 19:21 gone in the first half, Aurora converted on a set piece as Miguel Barajas scored his third goal of the season on a corner kick service by Mauro Castro.

"We didn't get out quick enough on a clearance fro ma corner and they threaded a nice shot to the far post," Peltonen said about the goal.

Four minutes later, Jacob Goehring tallied his sixth score of the year on an assist from Jason O'Brien to make it 2-0.

Still with plenty of time to try and create some opportunities, the Sabres were turned away time after time by a stingy Aurora defense that has helped it to three wins in its last four games.

"We came out strong in the second half and had the better of it for the most part, creating some chances, but none that were able to amount to anything," Peltonen added.

"Javier Medina had a solid game defensively and Jose Roman stepped in and played well as an outside defender. Danny Heerhold was a ball winner in central midfield."

Marian's Jameson Hoerter made six saves in the loss. Meanwhile, Aurora split time between two keepers as Chris Donner made two first-half saves before Zach McFarland manned the net for the final 45 minutes.

The Sabres will head to Lakeland Tuesday, Oct. 21, in a game set for 3:30 p.m.