Macon, GA - The Dalton State Men's Soccer team strapped on their boots and stepped onto to the pitch for a Southern State Athletic Conference match versus Middle Georgia State University at the Cavalier Fields Athletic Complex in Macon.

The Roadrunner squad went into Tuesday night's match looking to put together back to back conference wins for the second time this season. Unfortunately, it was not to be and the Knights of Middle Georgia came away with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Dalton State.

The fans who showed up for the match were treated to a defensive battle early on. In the first 30 minutes of play, both teams struggled to maintain control of the ball on the offensive half of the field. While each team had early looks at the goal, it was a blast off of the leg of Middle Georgia's Rasmus Arousell that snuck past the Roadrunner defenders for the match's first score and to give the Knights the 1-0 lead going into the half.

Coming out to start the second half the Roadrunners looked far more comfortable on the field and were able to dictate the pace in the early stages of the second period. After flirting with multiple scoring opportunities, the Roadrunners were the beneficiaries of good luck as a ball struck originally by Dalton State deflected off a Middle Georgia defender for an own goal that deadlocked the game at 1-1.

As the game clock continued to work toward triple zeros, it looked like the visiting Roadrunners were destined for a third overtime match in SSAC play. In the end it was not to be. The Knights secured the win off a skillfully guided shot by Jon Strom in the 85th minute of the match.

With the loss, Dalton State falls to 10-5-1 on the season and 3-3 in SSAC play. Middle Georgia improves to 5-9 and 2-2 in conference play. The Roadrunners are currently in second place with 9 points in the SSAC standing with two conference matches remaining.

"We had 14 attacking corner kicks for the game and had some good looks," said Coach Kerem Daser. "Their goal keeper and defenders did a good job in front of the goal. This is a tough conference and my tough team still has to develop."

The Roadrunners are playing their first soccer season. They return to play on Saturday when they travel to Pulaski, TN for a big SSAC conference game versus Martin Methodist College. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 CT.