SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After breaking the scoreless tie from the first half in the 69th minute, the No. 6 Converse University men's soccer team (7-7-3, 6-4-3 Conference Carolinas) were unable to hold onto the lead and fell to the No. 11 Emmanuel Lions (7-7-3, 6-4-3 Conference Carolinas) 3-2 on Wednesday night at Weisiger Stadium.

Converse outshot the Lions 20-10, but trailed 6-5 in shots on goal.

Freshman forward Jacob Bandel and redshirt-senior goalkeeper Harry O'Brien netted the Valkyries' two goals. O'Brien became the first keeper in program history to record a goal with his deficit-cutting header.

The opening ten minutes saw the Valkyries attempt three shots, one on goal, matching the total Emmanuel would get in the opening half. In the opening 45 minutes, the Valkyries attempted eight shots, two of which were on-goal, while limiting Emmanuel to just three, only one on-goal. The first Emmanuel shot did not occur until inside of 10 minutes to play in the first half. But with none of the 11 combined shots finding the back of the net, the teams entered halftime even 0-0.

The same story could not be said for the second half.

The Valkyries scored just over 23 minutes into the second half. Bandel perfectly struck the ball for a goal while surrounded by a triangle of Lion defenders on a feed from senior forward Guilherme Fontes. The freshman found the lower left corner, putting Converse up 1-0 with 22 minutes to play.

Just 10 seconds later, Emmanuel tied the game on a kickoff misplay from the Converse defense.

A crucial no-call came with 11:30 left in the game, as freshman forward Bankirer received a pass with the entire Lions' defense, including the keeper, beat. Bankirer was pushed to the ground inside the box, stopping the Valkyries' attempt to break the tie.

Emmanuel scored a pair of goals in the 81st and 84th minutes to put the Lions up 3-1 with just under seven minutes left on the clock. While the Valkyries had several chances over the final seven minutes, only one was successful. O'Brien, playing up the pitch in the final minutes of the win-or-go-home match, headed a ball past the Lions' keeper, cutting the lead to 3-2 with 13 seconds remaining in the game.

The Lions kicked the succeeding kickoff down the pitch, giving the Valkyries no chance to mount an attack with single digits on the clock.

Next Up:
With the loss, the Valkyries' season has come to an end.

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