The UMaine-Farmington men's soccer team (1-8-1) let a late second half lead slip away as the Beavers fell 4-2 to Johnson State (3-6-1, 1-3) Saturday afternoon at Prescott Field.
The game remained scoreless for 66 minutes until Ryan Fairbanks scored on a free kick-rebound opportunity.
The Badgers did not waste any time tying the score as Johnson evened the score on the very next possession. Keegan Hanlon took a shot from just beyond midfield and went top shelf over UMF goalie Ronie Morales.
Johnson scored three more unanswered goals as Drew Steady gave the Badgers the lead in the 67th minute after getting the assist from Hanlon. Hanlon controlled the ball just outside the box and sent a pass to Steady on the outside. Steady dribbled past the UMF defense and beat Morales for the score.
Nihad Basic made the score, 3-1, on a "pinball" goal in the 72nd minute. The Badgers' corner kick was controlled in the box by Cory Chase, whose header went to Basic, who then headed Johnson's third goal of the game into the back of the net.
Chase added a goal of his own thirty seconds later when his power shot deflected off Morales into the goal. Richie Perez dished a pass to Chase who shot through the UMF defense and even a diving Morales could not stop his shot as the ball deflected off the UMF keeper's hands.
Fairbanks and Luks hooked up for the second time of the afternoon in the 79th minute as Luks sent a cross in front of the goal and Fairbanks cashed in.
Ronie Morales saved nine shots on the day. Morales needs eight more saves to move into the UMF history books with the 10th best season in total saves. For the Badgers, Pakatar turned away 5 saves in the winning effort.
UMaine-Farmington continues conference play on Tuesday as the Beavers travel to Maine Maritime for a 7:00pm game while the Badgers travel to Green Mountain for a conference tilt at 3:30pm.
Visit us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to keep up with all the Badger action!