Sophomore David Kanoff passes the ball in a game on Sept. 16. Kanoff scored a goal in a 3-2 loss to Principia College on Sept. 22. (Jared Bullock | Student Life)

After consecutive trips across the Mississippi River, the men’s soccer team finished two games of a three-game road stint with one loss and one win against Principia College and Greenville College.

Both Washington University and Principia came into Tuesday’s contest undefeated. The Panthers, currently ranked eighth in the nation, began the game with a quick offensive attack.

“[John] Smelcer had to make an incredible save on an absolute bullet in the first seventeen seconds, and we faced three corner kicks in a row…after that onslaught, then we took over the game,” head coach Joe Clarke said.

Although Principia outshot the Bears 8-4 and held a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks, the teams played a scoreless first half. Clarke said the team missed crosses that would have allowed the Bears to be a scoring threat.

Wash. U. scored first with a goal from sophomore David Kanoff, his first goal of the season, but Principia countered less than a minute later to tie the game. Clarke explained that a formation change helped the team answer the Panthers’ defense and score.

“They had three in the middle, but we played with a tight diamond. Our two wingers pinched way in so we could try and cover their center three. In the first 15 minutes of the second half, they were finding that extra player too easily,” Clarke said. “We switched to a 4-3-3 of our own and that gave us more players high on the forward line, and I think that helped us get the goal.”

Later in the half, the teams traded goals once again. But after scoring on a penalty kick to tie the game at 2-2, senior co-captain Nat Zenner was issued his second yellow card of the game. The Bears played the game’s final 19 minutes one man down, and the contest was ultimately decided on a penalty kick by Principia’s Ricky Seaman in the last 30 seconds.

“There’s a need to minimize fouls because fouls turn into goals,” Clarke said.

The Bears rebounded from the loss Friday night against Greenville. Freshman midfielder Brian Wright said the Bears found strategies to create offensive attacks despite strong play from Panthers forward David Dunlop and their power on corner kicks.

“We swung the ball across the middle. We kept the ball and made the other team chase it…which helped us to open up, and we were able to get the ball wide and get it across and score,” Wright said.

The Bears netted the game’s only goal in the 33rd minute with a score by sophomore Kevin Privalle, the first of his career.

“We had the ball in the middle of the field, and then Dylan [Roman] passed the ball to me out on the sideline,” Wright said. “I beat the defender and served…all the way across the ball to Zach [Hendrickson], and he shot it toward the goalie and Kevin tapped it in right before the goalie got there. ”

The Bears outshot the Panthers 13-8, while Smelcer had three saves en route to his fourth shutout of the season. The team continues its road trip with its first University Athletic Association contest of the year on Oct. 4 against Emory University in Atlanta.