DUBUQUE, Iowa – After playing a scoreless first half, the Illinois Wesleyan men's soccer team was only able to muster one goal in a 2-1 setback to the Univeristy of Dubuque at Oyen field in Dubuque on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
 
Illinois Wesleyan dropped its season opener for the second consecutive year while the host Spartans avenged last year's 3-1 defeat to the Titans and improve to 1-0.
 
Despite holding a 16-10 advantage in shots and 12-7 in corner kicks, the Titans only put seven shots on goal with senior Blake Beehler netting the only IWU goal. With both offenses stagnant in the first 45 minutes of play, Beehler broke through in the 48th minute (47:30) to put the Titans ahead 1-0.

The lead would be short lived as Dubuque would respond with a goal of their own four minutes later (51:15) before netting the go-ahead goal in the 61st minute (60:52). Illinois Wesleyan would make one last push following a Dubuque red card, putting the Spartans down a man, but could not come up with an equalizer.
 
Senior Erick Eklin went all 90 minutes between the pipes for the Titans, making five saves.
 
What's Next?
Illinois Wesleyan travels to the Bergsma Memorial Tournament in Holland, Mich. to take part in a four team tournament starting Friday. IWU plays Marian University (Ind.) at 4 p.m. (ET) on Friday before taking on host Hope College at 7 p.m. (ET) on Saturday.