The Blackburn College Men's Soccer Team dropped their conference opener to Principia College by a 5-2 score on Saturday afternoon in Carlinville. The Beavers fall to 1-5-2 on the season and 0-1 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The match started slow without a shot registered by either side for the first eight minutes.  The Beavers had a couple of early scoring chances turned away by Principia before the Panthers netted two quick goals to seize control of the match.  At the 19:56 mark Joya Effenberg scored or Principia with an assist credited to Walter Lazo.  Just over a minute later Lazo scored and Effenberg assisted.  The Panthers made it 3-0 in the 31st minute as Diego Aias scored as Effenberg notched his second assist of the match.  The match headed to halftime with the Panthers leading 3-0.

Nine minutes into the second half the Beavers got on the board as Dylan Klunk scored as Shane Greathouse assisted to trim the lead to 3-1.  In the 65th minute Lazo scored his second goal of the match with the assist going to Aias.  The Panthers made it 5-1 four minutes later as Ian Koepp scored with Aias getting the assist.  In the 85th minute Greathouse scored his team leading fourth goal of the season as Luke Atkinson had the assist.

Blackburn hits the road this week with two away matches, Tuesday at Webster University and then Thursday to Columbus, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi University for Women.