HATTIESBURG, Miss.- The 21st-ranked Embry-Riddle men's soccer team's season came to an end Saturday night in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round with a tough loss to William Carey University at Crusader Field. The 14th-seeded Eagles (13-5-2) battled back from a 2-0 halftime deficit, but it wasn't enough as the 13th-seeded Crusaders (14-3-3) came away with the victory, 3-2.

The 21st-ranked Eagles and 20th-ranked Crusaders were two evenly matched teams coming into and throughout the contest as the game proved to be a battle until the final whistle.

Play in the first 20 minutes of the contest was fast paced and went back and forth between ERAU and WCU. In the 15th minute of play Embry-Riddle nearly came away with an early lead when Viktor Gudnason took a great touch on a ball that came from midfield. The Njardvik, Iceland native was able to beat a defender, and get off a shot. His shot, however, was saved masterfully by William Carey's keeper, Carl Goody.

The Eagles kept the pressure on the Crusader defense as Gudnason was also able to fire off two more shots in the next two minutes, but they were both blocked and the score remained tied at 0-0.  

William Carey was finally able to strike in the 31st minute when Luis Trude received a ball from Francois Navarro about five yards outside of the penalty area. Trude gathered the pass and was able to get off a shot that beat Eagle keeper Nils Carlson in the bottom right corner of the net and put William Carey up, 1-0.

Less than a minute later, WCU was able to score again when Johannes Forstpointer played a ball to Navarro on the left side of the field. Navarro got off a pass to Trude on a run in the middle of the pitch as Trude was able to take another shot that was just out of the reach of Carlson. The goal put the Crusaders up 2-0 and gave them the momentum going into the second half as Embry-Riddle was unable to answer in the remaining 13 minutes of the first half.

Embry-Riddle came out of the locker rooms at half with a resurgence of energy and immediately controlled possession, pressuring the Crusaders half of the pitch.  

At last, in the 52nd minute, the Eagles got on the board. ERAU was given a free kick when WCU's Daniel Gudmundson was given a yellow card for taking down Gudnason just outside the box. Ally MacDonald elected to take the free kick for the Blue and Gold and blasted it past Goody in the top right corner of the net to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Crusaders.     

Embry-Riddle continued to pressure the William Carey defense and nearly tied up the game just a minute later when Antoine Ndiaye got off a great left footed shot on goal. Again, however, Goody was there to make another fantastic save and punch the ball over the net.

Possession remained with the Eagles and finally, in the 62nd minute, ERAU was able to score the equalizer. MacDonald sent a beautiful ball that found Gudnason on a run down the left side. Gudnason collected the pass and sent a cross towards the back post that found Ndiaye. Ndiaye was able to get off a shot, Goody was unable to make the save and the Eagles had made a brilliant comeback and tied the game at 2-2.  

The momentum was back in the hands of the Eagles, but they weren't able to capitalize as both teams went back and forth after ERAU tied the game at two. It was William Carey who answered in the 69th minute of play. The Crusader's got their goal scoring opportunity when they earned a corner after Ryan Weir's shot was deflected by Carlson. Trude, who had both of the Crusader goals, took the corner from the right side of the pitch and lofted a ball into the box that found the head of Jonny Fairbairn. Fairbairn's header got past Carlson and gave the Crusader's the lead once again, 3-2.     

The Eagles battled until the very end, but were unable to answer this time. ERAU's offense struggled to find another chance to score, only getting off one shot in the final 21 minutes of the contest and falling to the Crusaders by way of a 3-2 final.

With the win, the Crusaders advance to the sweet 16 and the final site of 2011 Men's Soccer NAIA National Championship, which will be held in Orange Beach, Ala. Nov. 28- Dec. 2.

Embry-Riddle's season ends here, but the Eagles had a successful year. They became the 13th team in ERAU history to record double digit wins and eighth team to win a conference title.  The Eagles will look to be strong next year as they return all but three players on the roster.