CINCINNATI, Ohio- In a hard fought match, the Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team fell 3-2 in their season opener at Cincinnati on Friday.
 
After a pair of goals by UC's Alejandro Garcia, the Norse found themselves trailing 2-0 into the 63 minute. Alejandro found the net in the 26^th minute for his first goal heading it into the net from eight yards out with an assist by Johnny Williams. Alejandro's second goal came in the 46^th minute when he finished inside the six yard box after a cross by Jack Clark
 
The Norse fought back in the physical match cutting the Bearcat lead 2-1 in the 63^rd minute on a goal by Kobie Qualah with an assist by freshman Johannes Jansen. Jansen played the ball over the top into the box with Qualah beating UC goalkeeper Alex Gill for his first goal of the season.
 
In the 83^rd minute Jansen netted the equalizer with an assist by Dylan Carss and Ronald Moss. Carss played it into Moss who played through to Jansen then flicked the ball through the defense, to Jansen who then beat the keeper one-on-one. The goal was Jansen's first career goal as a Norse.
 
One minute later, Nick Melville netted the game-winner for the Bearcats. Melville played the ball to Williams who played the ball back to Melville, who then finished to put the Bearcats up for good, 3-2.
 
The Norse return to action on Monday, hitting the road for a 3 p.m. match with Memphis. For information on the NKU men's soccer program and all Norse athletics please visit NKUNorse.com. You can also get updates on the team throughout the season by following @NKUNorseMSOC on Facebook and Twitter.
 
Norse Notes
Since 2003, this was only the third season opening loss for the Norse.
 
This was the third meeting between the two teams with UC now holing the series lead 1-0-2.
 
This was the first of eight consecutive road matches to start NKU's 2015 season.