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CINCINNATI, Ohio - The IUPUI men's soccer team's wayward ways continued on Thursday night as the Jaguars dropped a hard fought 1-0 decision at Xavier at the XU Soccer Complex. XU's Gino Depaoli buried the game-winner in the 81st minute when his left-footed restart from nearly 25 yards out bent over the wall and tucked past senior goalkeeper Tyler Keever for his second goal of the season.

"The boys played well. I thought we did a good job in creating opportunities," Head Coach Isang Jacob said. "In a tight game like this against a quality opponent, you have to seize those opportunities and we didn't do that. We had chances to put the ball in the back of the net and to get a victory.

"For them, it was a well taken free kick. Credit them for that."

It was IUPUI's (1-6-1) fourth straight loss as the Jaguars now head into Summit League play. Of the Jags' last five opponents, three had received votes in the national polls at the time of the matches.

While IUPUI was unable to create a high volume of scoring opportunities, the Jaguars did get the highest quality chance of the first stanza late in the half. Junior Kyle Hyland sent a long throw-in deep into Xavier territory and senior Andrew Fuchs redirected a brilliant header, but XU goalkeeper Justin Marshall was able to swat the ball off the line before it was cleared by a defensive back.

Early in the second half, Keever made a showstopper of a save, plucking an attempt by Luke Spencer after the XU forward had gotten through Galen Cassady, who had gotten tangled up on the play.  

IUPUI had another good flurry in the 65th minute as Sam Fuller nearly drew a foul while penetrating inside the XU 18-yard box on a direct run. After the ball was batted around, Fuller regained his footing and put a strike on a shot from the top of the 18, only to have it shouldered down by an Xavier defender. The Musketeers eventually cleared the zone unscathed.

XU (5-1) outshot IUPUI 13-9, although the Jaguars outshot the hosts 7-6 in the second half. Spencer and Nick Hagglund led the Musketeers with three shots each while Ian Block and Hyland had two tries each for the Jaguars.

IUPUI was whistled for a season-high 27 fouls and racked up five yellow cards on Thursday, while Xavier was hit with 18 whistles. Keever finished with four saves and Marshall had five for the victors.

The loss dropped IUPUI to 0-3-1 all-time against Xavier.

IUPUI will have a busy weekend as the Jaguars will be hosting a free youth soccer clinic at Kuntz Stadium for kids ages 6-13 of all skill levels. The clinic will run from 9-10 a.m. on Saturday (Sept. 24) and will also be an opportunity to get autographs from the coaches and players. On Sunday, IUPUI will open Summit League play when it heads to Charleston, Ill. to take on Eastern Illinois at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.