SWARTHMORE, PA. – The Ursinus College men's soccer team was edged 1-0 in a hard-fought battle against Swarthmore in Centennial Conference action on Wednesday afternoon.   
 
"We played a game of two halves," Head Coach Daniel Clitnovici said. "Swarthmore's a very good team and caused some headaches in the first half. We made a few adjustments at halftime and maintained much of the pressure in the second half. I'm once again very proud of the second half performance but we will need to be better in both halves for our next game to compete for a full 90 minutes."  
 
 
Ursinus controlled much of the pace in the second half of action holding a 7-4 advantage in shots while edging the Garnet 4-2 in corner kick opportunities. Ursinus earned the first opportunity of the match in the 10^th minute as Tommy Mollis fired a low shot to the far post but was saved by Swarthmore's Max Kral. The Garnet responded just minutes later as Oliver Clarkson fired a cross into the box. Clarkson's pass just missed connecting with a Garnet forward but trickled past the Bears defense and into the back of the net. 
 
The Garnet continued the offensive pressure firing four shots on goal over the next seven minutes, but the Bears defense and junior goalkeeper Kirk Ransome stood tall stopping each opportunity. Ransome made a diving save in the 15^th minute, after Swarthmore's Matthew Loreg created some room in front of the net and fired a low shot towards the post. In the 19^th minute, the junior goalkeeper stuffed a one-on-one opportunity for the Garnet as Brandon Cramblit fired a low shot that was deflected back into the midfield. Just under thirty seconds remaining in the half, Ransome and the defense saved another Garnet opportunity to keep the deficit to just one at halftime. Swarthmore's Antonio Callegari was forced by the Bears backline to shoot, and Ransome denied the opportunity for his seventh save of the half.   
 
The second half was a much different contest as Ursinus controlled most of the time of possession and created many opportunities in front of the net. In the 57^th minute, sophomore Patrick Tormey lifted a lob pass over the Garnet defense. The pass found senior Marco Grenda with space in front of the net, but his right-footed shot just missed the far post. Moments later after a foul on Swarthmore, Ursinus' senior Aidan O'Malley free kick was blocked by the Garnet defense.  
 
The Bears amped up the pressure in the 78^th minute, as a cross from Jack Schmidt just missed the head of Harry Lorenc on the back post. Schmidt's pass cleared past the Garnet defense and the Bears nearly found the equalizer. Two minutes later, Schmidt came close on another cross attempt just missing the head of a teammate in front of the net. Ursinus was awarded two corner kicks in the 81^st minute but the Garnet's defense was able to withstand the pressure from the Bears.  
 
With three minutes remaining, Ursinus had one more opportunity to find the equalizer on a corner opportunity. O'Malley sent a bouncing pass to the top of the box to Tormey, he followed with a pass to the edge of the box finding Nick Balbierer. The junior midfielder fired a strong left-footed shot on net, but it was denied by Max Kral. Swarthmore's Kral earned the victory in net saving three shots while Ransome collected a career-high eight saves.  
 
The Bears will return to action on Saturday as they host Washington College for a Centennial Conference matchup at 1pm.