St. Bonifacius, Minn. – The Crown men's soccer team grabbed an early lead against Northland College on Saturday, only to see that lead evaporate as the Lumberjacks fought back for a 2-1 win.  The winner came late in the match, in the 84^th minute, as Crown once again saw a late goal set them back. 

The opener from the Polars was a stunner as Santiago Ciro did extremely well to fashion a cross from a neat 1-2 played on the right wing and Tim Jaeger ran across his defender at the near post.  As good as the build-up was, the finish was even better as Jaeger leapt to meet the cross and made solid connection with a side-foot volley that flew past the keeper at his near post. 

Crown saw Northland pull that goal back in the 29^th minute, however, and the two teams went into the break at 1-1.

The second half was about as even as the first as both sides looked to create chances to go ahead.  Crown held a slight advantage in second-half shots at 7-6 and the Jacks fired 12 attempts compared to 11 for the Polars over the 90 minutes. 

Things got more complicated for the home team when Enzo Pittigliani was sent off in the 74^th minute, leaving Crown down a man for the remainder of the match. 

Northland found the winner 10 minutes later and Crown was left to rue another close loss.

Crown will have a pair of chances to get back in the win column  next week as they travel to Martin Luther and Bethany Lutheran.