WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University men's soccer team dropped its first match of the season to Eastern on Wednesday night.

After a scoreless first half, the Eagles took the lead less than a minute into the second stanza when Jake Morales produced a stunning strike. He cut back toward the left edge of the penalty area and bent a curling effort into the upper-right corner of Troy Young's goal, kissing the crossbar on its way in.

Eastern doubled its advantage in the 70th minute. After a mix-up in the back, Haroon Husseini, who had been the applying pressure that caused the error, picked the ball up and finished from about 30 yards after Young had come out of his penalty area to attempt a clearance.

The Cardinals applied the pressure in the final 20 minutes, and halved the Eagle lead in the 76th minute. Domenic Caltabiano received a ball from Liam Giblin, and after clever foot skills and a nice turn in the box, he finished off of the left post to pull the Cardinals within one.

Catholic continued to push for the equalizer, and had one final opportunity with 22 second remaining. The Cardinals were able to serve the ball into the box after winning a free kick near midfield, but after a brief scramble, the Eagles were able to clear their lines one final time to secure the victory.

The loss ends Catholic's run of eight consecutive matches without a defeat.

Senior Nate Perrins made his season debut, taking three shots and putting one on target in 20 minutes of action. The Cardinals and Eagles both offered 17 shots and both put seven on target.

Catholic will travel to Madison, N.J., for a conference bout with Drew on Saturday. Kickoff against the No. 22 ranked Rangers is set for 1 p.m.