WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- No. 22 Midwestern State had too much to overcome dropping a 3-1 decision to Fort Lewis (Colo.) in its season opener Friday night at the MSU Soccer Field.
 
The setback is just the second home loss for the Mustangs since the start of the 2008 campaign. Midwestern must turn around quickly to face a game Colorado Mines squad Sunday morning in Austin. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.
 
"It's hard to play with 10 men with 34 minutes left in the game against a team like that who really possesses the ball," MSU coach Doug Elder said. "Things were going OK and I felt momentum was going to shift and it started to. We got another opportunity where we were throwing numbers forward then we got the ejection."
 
Senior B.A. Catney had just netted the equalizer on a brilliantly struck ball from the top of the box off of Chase Robertson's corner kick effort in the 50th minute and the Mustangs appeared to be gaining momentum as Dan Johns sprinted to a through ball and appeared to meet the ball at the same time as Fort Lewis goalkeeper Ryan Schaul.
 
Johns, who had drawn a caution in the game's 15th minute, was sent off in the 57th minute after making contact with Schaul about 5 yards into the box.
 
"It was a 50-50 ball. They want to protect the keeper but what if the keeper feet first? They aren't going to call that. The problem is he had a yellow already," Elder said. "It was a guy hustling for the ball. It was one thing if he goes two feet in but he did not."
 
Fort Lewis capitalized quickly as Elliot Prost connected with Jordan Alexander for a 2-1 advantage just four minutes later then Aaron Kloer ripped a ball off of MSU's Javan Toledo and into the Mustangs' net for an own goal in the 64th minute to give the Skyhawks a comfortable lead.
 
"The longer you play with 10 and keep it tied, then they start to force things," Elder said. "We gave up the goal less than four minutes later and that really gave them confidence."
 
Midwestern State outshot the Skyhawks 16-5 for the match, but FLC made the Mustangs pay for mistakes including a key miscue in the opening half. Center back Kalen Ryden misplayed a ball in the Mustangs' offensive third allowing Casey Dean to serve a ball ahead to Yannis Becker allowing two Skyhawks to run free at MSU keeper Nathan Kenyon.
 
"Kalen gave up back there and they just finished it well," Elder said. "I thought Nathan had it because he opened his body to finish it and he guessed right but just got down too slow."
 
Midwestern State faces another tough foe in Colorado Mines Sunday morning in Austin. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. from Lewis Chen Field on the St. Edward's campus.
 
"(Mines) just got a good win tonight (against St. Edward's) and they are a good team," Elder said. "They had a really good run last year."