St. Mary's City, Md. - No. 16 Swarthmore College Men's Soccer lost for the first time in 2021 on the road at St. Mary's College (Md.).  In an outstanding battle between two unbeaten teams, senior Regional All-American forward Roshawn Panton scored in the 13th minute for the Seahawks and a stellar defensive effort from the hosts kept the Garnet at bay for the remainder of the afternoon.

With the loss, Swarthmore slips to 3-1 on the season, while St. Mary's improves to 5-0.  The Seahawks claimed another Centennial prize on Saturday, a 2-1 win over Dickinson.  The other match of the 2021 Seahawks Classic tournament - between Swarthmore and Salisbury on Saturday - was canceled when Salisbury had to withdraw due to covid-19 concerns within their program.  It was St. Mary's first win against the Garnet since a 3-0 win in 2017.

At the 12:57 mark of the first half, St. Mary's captain Panton, who leads the Seahawks with three goals this season, turned two Garnet defenders inside-out with his skillful dribbling inside the Swarthmore penalty area.  He then fired a driven shot into the lower right corner of the Swarthmore goal, slipping it past junior goalkeeper Max Kral for the eventual game-winner.  It was one of only two shots on goal in the first half for St. Mary's.  Kral saved the other to keep the match close.

Swarthmore dominated possession and scoring chances after the break, outshooting St. Mary's 11-3 in the second half.  But Seahawks' GK Liam Delone-Bellsey only needed to make two more saves, as most of the Garnet shots were off-target.  In front of him, Delone-Bellsey had a disciplined, determined defensive corps, as they consistently turned away wave after wave of Swarthmore attacks.  Senior captain Joe Barile broke free on the left side several times, only to have Seahawks defenders deny him dangerous chances.  Swarthmore also had seven corner kicks and six free kicks in the half, all to no avail as the hosts thwarted every effort.

Swarthmore hit the road again next Saturday, Sept. 18th when they travel back to Maryland to open Centennial Conference play at Johns Hopkins.  Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m.