IRVING, Tx. – Whitman College's men's soccer team found itself in an early hole Saturday afternoon against the University of Dallas and was unable to climb out. The Crusaders struck first, just before the two-minute mark of the first half and again in the 33rd-minute. Although the Whitties had their chances, they were unable to capitalize, falling in the season opener 2-1.

Whitman (0-1) allowed an early corner that Dallas (1-1) capitalized on, grabbling the game's first lead, 1-0 on Barton Holdridge's header. Whitman's Marcos Medina's equalizer was saved in the seventh minute by Dallas goalkeeper, Tino Gamueda. The Missionaries were able to get two more shots on goal over the next 20 minutes of play, but both Daniel Kim and Bridger Sellegren's shots were saved by Gamueda.
 
Dallas' final goal of the half came on an assist by Trae Hampton, who connected with Ben Mannings on a cross that opened the lead to 2-0. Whitman's final shot of the half came from Nathanael Fleming in the 31st minute; his shot that missed wide and prevented the Missionaries from getting on the board. The first half ended with the box score looking somewhat lopsided. Whitman tallied just four shots to UD's nine and the Crusaders' collected four corners compared to zero for the Whitties.
 
The second half started similar to the first with Dallas firing four shots in the first 11 minutes of the half. However, Whitman goalkeeper, Baker Conte collected four saves in the half and prevented the Crusaders from extending their lead any further. Dallas controlled the first 20-plus minutes of the second half until Medina took a shot that would have cut the Missionaries' deficit to one. It was not so. Medina's shot was blocked and although, Kim and Sellegren both got shots off in the 76th and 79th minutes, respectively, both missed wide.
 
Finally, in the 89th minute, Noah Cavanaugh scored the first Whitman goal of the season. After Park Harmon's shot was blocked, Cavanaugh connected on a penalty kick that narrowed the Crusaders lead to one. Unfortunately, it proved to be too little, too late as the horn sounded with the Missionaries on the wrong side of a 2-1 final.

Whitman could not find it early on in the first and second halves. Dallas gained possession early on and although they did not convert a goal in the second half, ball control proved to be detrimental to the Missionaries' opportunities. A bright spot in the Whitman box score was the six saves by Conte. The Crusaders took eight shots on goal and Conte allowed just two, both in the first half.  

The Missionaries will have little time to lick their wounds as they play Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. PST against the University of Texas at Tyler (0-2). Whitman will look to even their record early on in the season and avoid an 0-2 start for the second year in a row.