GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College men's soccer team took on the Trine University Thunder with their sights set on a sixth straight win, but the Thunder shocked the Owls on Mavec Field by handing the home team a 4-3 defeat.

Trine improves to a 2-3-2 record this season with its second win, while Kenyon falls to 5-3 overall and 5-2 at home. The Owls orchestrated a 16-7 edge in shots and a 10-6 advantage in corner kicks, but the teams each put five shots on goal. 

Describing the game as tumultuous might be an understatement when looking exclusively at the second-half action, but the first 45 minutes were relatively pedestrian. The Owls outshot Trine 6-2 in the period, but the Thunder capitalized upon their limited looks and scored the first half's only goal. 

Tyler Murphy put the visitors on the board in the 26th minute after the Owls turned the ball over on a throw-in. Trine's Liam Zimmerman put pressure on the Kenyon defense with a straightaway attack down the middle before finding a cutting Murphy. He corralled the ball, evaded a defender, and sent his shot past Jack Pedreschi and into the net.

The goal was one of three for Murphy on the day, as the senior was responsible for all of Trine's offensive scoring. Unfortunately for Kenyon, the game's deciding goal was an own goal that put the Thunder ahead for good.

However, before the game was decided, the teams went back and forth on the field and the scoreboard. After a relatively uneventful first 15 minutes of the second half, six goals and five cards were packed into the final 30 minutes of action. 

The Thunder were issued five cards, four yellows, and one red, and Trine played a man down for the final 18 minutes. The first of those cards came in the 61st minute when Trine keeper Aidan McGonagle was issued a yellow after a collision with a streaking Atli Hrafnkelsson. The penalty occurred in the box, and Aidan Burns converted the penalty kick to tie the game at 1-1.

Murphy and the Thunder struck again a few minutes later, in the 66th minute, but Joey Martens came through 60 seconds later with another Owls equalizer. The first goal of the junior's career came after cleaning up a loose ball off an Owls corner.

Kenyon capitalized on a Trine red card and made it two in a row with a man-up goal in the 76th minute. The score came off another corner as Burns played into Alex Ramirez, who crossed to Matt Nguyen for the goal that put the Owls ahead, 3-2, for the first time.

However, the wild game was not done, as Trine would get the final say. The visitors' third goal looked nearly identical to their second as Mohamed Aljably lofted a pass over the Kenyon defense that found Murphy for the score. After tying the game at three goals apiece in the 81st minute, Trine earned a corner kick in the 86th minute, leading to the game-winning score. The ball sailed into the middle of the box and found the head of a waiting Kenyon defender, but the clearance attempt was unsuccessful as the ball angled into the back right corner of the net to put the Thunder up 4-3.

The Owls have a few days to regroup before looking to bounce back against Centre College on Tuesday, September 26. The match ends an eight-game homestand and is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. on Mavec Field.