The Case Western Reserve University men’s soccer team kicked off their tournament weekend with a win, only to end it with a loss. Last weekend, the Spartans traveled three hours west to Ada, OH to compete in the Ohio Northern University adidas Invitational Tournament. In their first game on Friday night, the Spartans claimed victory over Kalamazoo College (MI) with a score 1-0. The next night, however, in the tournament championship, the Spartans fell to the host Polar Bears 2-0, picking up their first loss of the season to put them at an overall record of 3-1-1.

On Friday night, the Spartans and the Kalamazoo Hornets battled through the first half scoreless until junior midfielder Kyle Alsup found the upper left corner of the net in the 68th minute recording his first goal of the 2010 season. Alsup was assisted by senior forward/midfielder Phil Debauche, who recorded his first assist of the season.

Kalamazoo managed just four shots all game and junior goalkeeper Ben Yabrow was untested. The Spartans did not face a shot on goal, and holding their lead while finishing the game 1-0.

The next night in the championship game, the Spartans faced off against the home team. The ten-time ONU Invitational champions went to work on their home turf. Two early goals before the fifteenth minute, both scored by ONU’s Cameron Johnson, put the Polar Bears far enough ahead that the Spartans were unable to recover. Yabrow recorded a season high of five saves during the game. Case had a season-high 15 shots in the game, 6 of those on goal, but ONU outshot Case 16-15. In the end, the Spartans just could not connect with the back of the net; the final score remained 2-0.

Still early in the season, the Spartans look forward to the upcoming regional games this week and next, traveling to Oberlin College (overall 2-4) for their next game on Saturday, September 18th.