MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Benedictine University men's soccer team saw the season come to an end at the hands of MSOE in the NACC semifinals on Wednesday night.

MSOE grabbed a 1-0 lead in just the second minute of the match on a free kick into the box. The hosts stayed as the aggressor throughout the contest, extending the lead to 2-0 in the 23rd minute. Benedictine finally registered a shot on target in the 29th minute, delivering a goal to fight within 2-1. Nick Kapetanos picked up a loose ball following a corner kick and banked a shot off the defender and into the goal. MSOE padded the advantage in the sixth minute, finishing on a third attempt. The second-seeded Raiders held a 13-2 edge in shots during the first half.

"Tonight, we faced a very good MSOE side," said head coach Rich Nassif. "All year we've talked about the psychological side of the game and when you go down 1-0 as early as we did against them, it's going to be a tough climb. We did not handle set pieces at all despite the preparation we put into it and that was certainly a difference."

Benedictine mounted early opportunities in the second half, but MSOE held defensively and struck for the final goal in the 57th minute. Benedictine, reaching the semifinals for a second straight year, out shot MSOE in the second 9-7, but finished down 20-11 in that department.

"I thought we made the right adjustments to get ourselves back in the game but the third goal really hurt," Nassif added. We had our chances to cut the defecit to one in the second half and did not capitalize. They got a goal against the run of play and we just did not have enough response. Credit to MSOE and best of luck to both teams vying for NCAA qualification."

Kapetanos and Ante Markotic tallied three shots each. Steve Mack stopped seven shots in goal during the defeat. Benedictine closed the year with a record of 11-7-2.

"Our seniors deserved more, this was not a fitting send off for them," Nassif added. "What they have done with this program and how far they have advanced Benedictine Soccer is remarkable. Anes, Ante, Edgar, Hector, and Kris will very much be missed and I cannot thank them enough for what they brought to our family."