Box Score The new-look Cougar men's soccer team was thrown right into the fire on Tuesday, opening its season on the road and falling 2-0 to a very good Vanguard squad.
CSUSM is now 0-1 on the season. Vanguard improves to 1-0.
After losing six of its eleven starters from 2009, the young Cougar squad got its feet wet against a veteran opponent. Vanguard broke a scoreless tie in the 31st minute, with Tomislav Colic getting played through and beating Cougar keeper Kevin Ernst.
Vanguard put it away in the 62nd minute, when Kevin Cornwall kicked in a goal from inside the box to put Vanguard up 2-0.
Meanwhile, the Cougars struggled to get into the flow of the game, which was disappointing after a very promising 1-1 draw against UCSD in an exhibition last week. But with such a young squad, Head Coach Ron Pulvers knows games like this are possible.
"Tonight we were not engaged from the whistle," commented Pulvers. "But we've got another match in less than 24 hours, which will be good for the team."
CSUSM will play tomorrow at Pomona Pitzer.
