CLEVELAND - The IU Indianapolis men's soccer team came up on the wrong side of a 2-1 decision at Cleveland State on Saturday night (Oct. 12) as the host Vikings deposited the game-winner in the 81st minute. Freshman Christian Nielsen tallied his first career score as an equalizer early in the second half, but the Jaguars were unable to secure a result as CSU's Matteo Correia scored late. 

"A little bit of a weird game, I'll be honest," head coach Sid van Druenen said. "I thought for spells of the game, I thought we were the better team. We didn't create enough first half, we were content having the ball and going left to right and backwards more than we played forward. 

"Then I think our response in the second half was really good. We probably played some of the best football we've played all year from the moment we kicked off the second half all the way until we scored the goal. We had multiple chances - we scored a beautiful goal and a couple guys had a really good spell in there - 20, 25, 30 minutes. Then, unfortunately, we tie the game up and then we go back into what we were doing in the first half."

The Vikings (4-5-3, 1-3-1 HL) scored first as Bojan Kolevski got a shot past Jaguar keeper Mason Taylor in the 15th minute off assists from Correia and Tom Mertz. The lead held until halftime as the Jaguar attack was punchless in the opening 45 minutes. IU Indy was held to just one shot attempt and one corner kick before halftime. 

The second half was a completely different narrative as the Jags earned a 10-5 shot advantage after the break. Nielsen hit paydirt in the 53rd minute off a cross from Ethan Vermillion, leading to a one touch goal. 

The Jags sought the go-ahead goal, getting quality attempts from a number of players, including a shot on target from Cameron Radeke in the 70th minute and a dangerous attempt from Spencer Holland in the 77th minute.

However, Correia scored from just inside the 18-yard box in the 81st minute to propel the Vikings to their first league win. 

Nielsen and Jose Antonio Herrera both had shot attempts in the closing minutes, each to no avail. 

Taylor finished with two saves while CSU's Ryan Poling made three stops in the win. 

The Jaguars will return to action on Tuesday (Oct. 15) at Bellarmine to close out non-conference play. That game is slated for a 3:00 p.m. kickoff on ESPN+.