GREENWOOD - Newberry College dropped its second game in a row against nationally-ranked competiton Wednesday, losing to Lander University 6-3 in Greenwood.  However, while the end result is what's remembered, head coach Sam Okpodu saw several positive traits during the game that he believes shows his team is ready to turn the corner.

"Even though the score indicates a loss, we did something that was missing during this young season," explained Okpodu. "We played hard for 90 minutes, never surrendering."

The two teams came out swinging, as both the Indians and Bearcats fought off several early corners.  Then, the 30th minute, the Bearcats were awarded a questionable pentalty kick, taken by Luke Ibbetson of Lander.  Ibbetson converted the chance into the game winning goal as the Bearcats went up 1-0.  He added another goal in the 37th minute, to put the Bearcats up 2-0.

Entering the half, the Indians could have mailed it in, especially after Lander scored again in the 57th minute, leaving Newberry down 4-0.  But Indian junior Troy Pinckney would not be denied, scoring in the 67th minute, on a beautiful ball from freshman Kyle Rudder.  Pinckney finished with four shots on the day.

The lead was cut to two, when Sumter-native Jeffrey Taylor scored his first goal of the season, finding the net in the 77th minute.  The Indians pulled within striking distance at 4-2.  Then just five minutes later, Lander bought some insurance with a goal by Antii Suoniemi.  Then, in the 85th minute, the Bearcats converted yet another penalty kick to make the score 6-2.

As the game was winding down, Sao Paulo, Brazil native Ricardo Silveira got back into the stat sheet with his fourth goal of the season.

"We have to get back on track," said Okpodu. "We're the only ones who can do it.  We have to go back to the drawing board and regroup.  The boys showed a lot of heart and character out there today."