FREDERICK, Md.—The Hood College men's soccer team (2-1-2) was defeated by McDaniel (3-4) 5-1 at Thomas Athletic Field Wednesday afternoon. The Blazers dug themselves an early hole as three first half giveaways were too much to recover from.

Junior Ian McDonald scored his first collegiate goal in the 29th minute off an absolute rip to the far post upper 90. It was a phenomenal goal for McDonald that was struck with quality and helped to bring life back to the Blazers.

McDaniel opened the game very strong with a goal from Max Rutherford in the fifth minute. Rutherford hit a nice volley off a long throw that gave the Blazer defense fits and it was 1-0 just like that. Nine minutes later in the 13th minute McDaniel's leading scorer Shane McCracken put his mark on the game with good combination play that resulted with a near post finish. Sophomore Nickolas May was punished just a minute later with a slide tackle that may or may not have made contact with McCracken, however the referee pointed to the penalty spot awarding a penalty to McDaniel. Richard Forka walked up to the spot and calmly sunk the penalty in the 14th minute.

The first 14 minutes was truly tough on the young Blazers. The team gave up as many goals (3) than they had given up in the first four games combined.

McDonald's goal brought life back to Hood and they looked to be gaining momentum going into the half. You had the sense that whoever scored the next goal at 3-1 would take command of the game. Freshman Gary Higginbothem had a good opportunity early in the second half as he hit a shot a few feet wide of goal. Rutherford and McCracken would each strike for McDaniel again as their two goals scored in the 69th and 76th minute respectively ended any Blazer comeback bid.

Hood goalkeeper Ryan Deuber made several acrobatic saves in defeat. He managed to turn away six McDaniel shots, while his counterpart Zach Nibbelink saved three Blazer shots on the afternoon.

McDaniel outshot Hood 24-8, although the Blazers held an advantage in corners 4-2.

The Blazers need to recover quickly as they return to action this Friday at Thomas Athletic Field. Hood will play host to Valley Forge Christian at 4 p.m.