UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The Calvin University men's soccer team lost 3-1 at John Carroll University in non-conference play on Saturday night.
 
The two teams spent the first 30 minutes feeling their way into the game before JCU (6-2-2) opened the scoring in the 33rd minute.
 
Calvin (5-4-0) had a good chance in the 38th minute on a cross from Foster Garrett (Canton, Mich./Salem) in front of the JCU goal, but Jake Ziolo's (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome) shot was stopped on a diving save by JCU keeper Brenden Moher to keep the game 1-0.
 
The two teams looked to be headed into the half with the one-goal edge for the Blue Streaks, but JCU scored a big insurance tally in the 45th minute as Luka Pranjeta beat Calvin keeper Kaelen Matascastillo (New Kensington, Pa./Minnesota Virtual Academy) to a ball off a deflected free kick with five seconds left in the half to give JCU a 2-0 edge.
 
Pranjeta struck again for the Blue Streaks in the 80th minute, taking a long throw in down the left side before scoring his second goal of the game.
 
The Knights answered one minute later on a diving header goal by Colin Nieuwenhuis (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) off a cross from Reed Vanderlugt (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian), and had a chance for a second goal in the final minutes but Moher made another diving stop on Xtreme Hauk (Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) to end the threat and seal the win for the Blue Streaks.
 
Nieuwenhuis finished with two of the Knights' nine shots, and his goal in the 81st minute was his third of the season.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "Really disappointing from us tonight," Calvin men's soccer head coach Ryan Souders said. "Not taking anything away from JCU. They are a great program and got the win. Coach Dejan does a great job with his group.
 
We need to figure out who we are and how badly we want this. Need to look in the mirror instead of pointing fingers; myself at the top of the list. It's up to us. We're going to learn over the next several weeks whether or not we actually want this or are just posing."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's soccer will return to action on Wednesday, October 2, when it hosts University of Chicago in a game scheduled to kick off at 7:00 PM at Zuidema Field.