NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – A Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference defensive battle turned into an offensive shootout down the home stretch Saturday, Oct. 9.

Visiting Defiance College of Ohio (3-9-1 overall, 1-1 HCAC) tried to figure out the Spartans' defense led by freshman goalkeeper Jared Hallal (Indianapolis, Ind.) over 74 minutes with no success. However, DC finally broke through with three goals in a less than 10-minute span from 74:30 to 84:23, MU (4-7 overall, 0-2 HCAC) had similar struggles against Yellowjacket net minder Damian Koester until senior forward Loic Youth (Detroit, Mich.) fed a nifty pass through the defense and found the foot of fellow senior forward Austin Finley (Kokomo, Ind.) for a goal down the left side at 86:01.

The home side didn't appear to be finished at that point, either, much to the delight of the fans at Spartan Field. An increased offensive attack sent the ball into Defiance College's end of the field throughout the final three minutes, but the visitors managed to turn it away at every advance for the 3-1 decision.

After the two teams were fairly even shots wise in the first 45 minutes, with DC holding a slight 6-3 edge, the visitors surmounted a 13-shot attack in the second stanza which eventually led the late stages' blitz. Hallal ended with four saves against the opposition, while sophomore forward Ola Ladapo (London England) concluded the day with two shots to spotlight the offense.

MU continues conference play Saturday, Oct. 11, traveling to Hanover College for a 3 p.m. kickoff.