SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- Gero Zarbo scored the game-winning goal in the 85th minute as Morningside University dealt the Bellevue University men's soccer team its first loss of the season, 2-1, on Tuesday evening.
Bellevue falls to 1-1-1 on the year while Morningside picks up their first win, improving to 1-1-0.
Morningside got a breakout in the 18th minute with Johannes Lang finding Jona Fischer at the edge of the box before taking a return pass and slipping it home from 12 yards out for a 1-0 Mustang lead.
Bellevue leveled in the 31st minute following the second hydration break. Carlos Ortega Arguelles sent a throw-in into the box where Fletcher Hedge flicked it on with his head to Álvaro Moros Sanz who slotted home the equalizer. The goal was his second of the season.
With 2:09 to play in the first half, Morningside won a free kick in a dangerous area but the Mustang shot sailed over the cross bar and while BU won a corner in the waning seconds the cross cleared the 18 and no shot materialized.
Into halftime, the score remained 1-1 to the home side with Morningside having out-shot Bellevue 7-6 in the opening 45 minutes.
The 52nd minute saw the Bruin pressure for a Mustang turnover and lead to a counter but BU was unable to get a shot off thanks to a desperate challenge by a retreating Morningside defender.
On a counterattack in the 58th minute, a Bruin took a pass near the penalty spot but mishit a shot over the bar.
A little more than two minutes later the Bruins were whistled for a foul just outside the penalty area leading to a Mustang free kick. The shot was on target but BU keeper Taariq Ganga met the ball at the crossbar and saved it over the goal.
Morningside found the go-ahead strike in the 85th minute when Gero Zarbo headed home a cross from John Coronado off the far post.
Ganga finished with three saves in the loss for Bellevue while his counterpart, Oliver Melander, totaled just one stop for the Mustangs. The Bruins out-shot Morningside 14-12 for the match, despite Morningside owning a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Bellevue hosts Briar Cliff University (1-0-0) at Papillion Landing on Saturday, Aug. 26 with kick-off slated for 7:30 p.m.
