CLEVELAND, Miss. –Despite and early goal from the Lee University men's soccer team, they could not hold onto the lead and dropped a 3-1 decision to Delta State University on Friday afternoon.
 
Once again the Flames didn't waste anytime getting on the scoreboard, Eamon McLaughlin opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he took a pass from Matias Siems and gave the Flames the 1-0 lead.
 
Delta State regrouped and tied the game in the 13^th behind a goal from James Lynch. The Statesmen then took the lead in the 26^th minute when Santi Rossi scored. The Flames dialed up the pressure in the last ten minutes of the first half, but could not find a goal as Marc Ehmann and Ruben d'Hollosy had a couple of shots saved.
 
The third and final goal for the Statesmen came in the 79^th minute behind the shot from Braden Taylor.
 
The Flames earned three yellow cards in loss while Delta State had two. Lee outshot DSU 9-7 and 5-3 in shots on goal but couldn't find the back of the net. The goalkeeper for the Statesmen Daniel Santema had four saves in the win.
 
The Flames will look to get back on track as they head to Clinton, Miss. They will take on Mississippi College on Sunday, October 22 at 4 PM.
 
Coach Derek Potteiger's Thoughts:
 
"That was a tough game today and credit to Delta State for deserving the result today. 
 
I thought we did well to come out and jump on them early but the game shifted completely on their first goal and was just a disastrous turn of events for us. They used that energy to get the second and then it was always going to be so hard to come from behind. 
 
I'm disappointed, the whole team is, but we need to rally internally so we can be ready to compete on Sunday."