BECKLEY, West Virginia - The Salem men's soccer had to battle more than just their opponents down in Beckley this afternoon. A steady rain maintained throughout the contest Salem had scheduled with Shaw, and it was a major factor as the Tigers fell to the Bears 3-1. 

In the first half, neither team really found much of the groove as the slippery field conditions added a level of difficulty that took some time to adjust to. In fact, neither team would find many scoring chances at all, and a 0-0 deadlock held through the halftime break. 

In the second half, Salem tried to push the offensive attack into high gear in order to break the deadlock. Unfortunately, Shaw made great use of the counter attack, and they jumped out to a 3-0 with three goals in quick succession midway through the half. Salem, now with a big comeback bid in front of them, did find a goal off the foot of Rodrigo Ramirez late in the game. He was assisted by Jonathan Van Dierman on the play. However, the lone goal was not quite enough to shovel themselves out of the deficit, and Shaw came away with a solid, although soggy, 3-1 win. 

On the stats sheet, the Ramirez goal was the clear highlight for the Tigers. Mack Cobel and Aidan Mahoney also created a number of scoring chances for Salem. In goal, Ruben Piljman logged 7 saves. 

Despite falling today, Salem will be right back in action this week as they are scheduled to take on Pikeville on Wednesday, October 19th at 2 pm at Catalano Stadium.