HELENA, Mont. – A first half ejection had Argo soccer playing down a man for a majority of the team's game against Carroll College and that disadvantage was too much to overcome in a 2-0 loss. UP was already down 1-0 when sophomore forward George Holloway drew 2 yellow cards in 12 seconds during the 43rd minute which had the Argos playing with 10 men for 48 of the game's 90 minutes.
 
After a few early chances from both teams, Carroll got on the board in the 20th minute when Jose Mena got on the end of a through ball from Isaac Bostrom that broke down the UP defense.
 
The Fighting Saints continued to be the more aggressive team in the first half, getting 5 more shots off than the Argos and 4 shots on goal to UP's 2. Things got worse as the half was about to end. That's when Holloway picked up his cards. The first came with 41:48 on the clock. The second with 42:10 on the clock.
 
Now playing a man up, Carroll continued the pressure in the second half, getting off 9 shots in the first 15 minutes. UP also had a few scored chances in that span of time, but instead of scoring an equalizer, the team eventually gave up a second goal in the 72nd minute and again it was Mena.
 
UP actually picked it up after that, and finished the half with as many shots on goal as the Saints, and just 3 fewer shots.
 
Junior midfielder Luis Macias led the Argos with 2 shots on goal.
 
Not only did the Argos have to play a man down for a long chunk of time, but they were shorthanded before the game even started. The team's and the Cascade Collegiate Conference's leading scorer, Argo senior Christoffer Bisbo who has scored 11 goals in 2017 missed the game due to injury.
 
The loss is the third straight for UP and has the Argos on the outside looking in for the CCC playoffs with 12 points and a record of 5-6 (4-5). With four games left in the regular season, UP is tied for 10th of 14 teams, but only trail the eighth place team (the cut off for a playoff berth) by 2 points.
 
Next for the Argos will be a home game against Evergreen State College on October 20 at 3:30 p.m. If UP came beat the Geoducks, they will be right back in the playoff hunt.