Eagles Fall to Royals Comeback

HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata men's soccer team was unable to hold onto an early 1-0 advantage, falling 2-1 to Landmark Conference opponent Scranton on Saturday afternoon.  

Scranton had a few decent chances in the opening 15 minutes, forcing a diving save from Axel Grater in the 16th minute.  

Shortly after, Sean Weiland found Ian Edwards on the counterattack for a Juniata goal on their opening shot in the 20th minute. Nathan Weick started the sequence by pressing to trigger a poor pass directly to Weiland in Juniata's defensive third. From there, Weiland dribbled upfield with pace past a few Royals players before passing to Edwards. He dribbled to the right side and beat the keeper at the near post from an acute angle about eight yards out.  

Juniata nearly found a second goal in the 31st minute on a Jacob Haynes interception and through ball to Jalen Holliday; although trying to catch up to the ball, he was only able to shoot the ball right at the keeper from close range. The Royals leveled the game in the 34th minute as a ball was crossed in from the right side and first met by a Scranton player in the box who headed it down near the penalty spot. The ball was then tapped past Grater by another Royal into the right corner for the 1-1 scoreline. 

Grater made one more diving save a few minutes later, but he was injured in the process, with Maxwell Mattioni relieving him for the final 50 minutes. 

The second half started with few clear chances, with Mattioni having to make just one stop before the Royals found the game-winner in the 72nd minute. A ball was played into a Royal 25 yards out on the right side of the half circle, and he hit a left-footed strike that got past a diving Mattioni into the top-left corner. 

Juniata looked to salvage a point, as Harshaan Grewal missed to the right of goal on a loose ball from a Ryan Angelone cross in the 79th minute, the Eagles' best chance the rest of the way. 

Grater made four saves in the first 40 minutes, while Mattioni had one stop. 

Juniata looks for a bounce-back in their midweek matchup at home against Susquehanna on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.