A fast start and a gritty effort couldn’t help the men’s soccer team on Aug. 27 as the Hornets lost their composure and the soccer game 2-1 to Notre Dame de Namur.

The Hornets got off to a positive start when freshman Jeff Buddenbohn sent a free kick to the corner to a racing junior Pedro Lupercio, who crossed the ball in front of the goalmouth where junior forward Eric Ortiz sent a header into the net in the fourth minute marking his second goal in two exhibition games.

The lead wouldn’t last long, however, as the team began to lose its composure. The Hornets began barking at the officials and committing numerous fouls culminating in a penalty kick goal by senior Austen Ezzell, tying the game at 1-1, where it remained at the half.

The second half began how the first half concluded.

In the 65th minute, their fate was delayed when a goal by the Argo’s Nick Hooper, junior, was disallowed because of an offsides call.

Finally, in the 76th minute, the Hornets gave in. Ezzell scored his second goal of the day on a sharp header from sophomore Robert Morini sealing the 2-1 victory for the Argos.

“Our guys got too high after scoring a quick goal and just couldn’t get it going again,” coach Michael Linenberger said, adding that the team played poorly in every facet of the game after the first goal.

It wasn’t just the Hornets who struggled though. It was a sloppy game on both sides for much of the afternoon. The two teams missed on many scoring opportunities and committed a total of 38 fouls. Among the fouls were six yellow cards and a red card presented to junior forward Ryan Rhoads, forcing the Hornets to play much of the game one man down.

The 2-1 loss marked the end of the exhibition season for the squad, who beat California State University, Stanislaus, 2-1 in their other exhibition game this fall.

“We pushed the team to see how the players would react, and they reacted poorly today,” Linenberger said.

The Hornets will play their first official game of the season at 5:00 p.m. on Sept. 1 at St. Mary’s.