A strong first half turned into a great start of the second half, but it ended going against Master’s men’s soccer team as they lost the Golden State Athletic Conference opener to Arizona Christian 3-1 Sept. 29 in Glendale, Ariz.

After a scoreless first half, Giorgio Martino scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season off a throw in from Caden Deck within the first five minutes of the second half to give the Mustangs (2-5-2, 0-1 GSAC) the lead at 1-0. But three goals scored in a ten-minute span later in the half by the Firestorm settled the score.

“We played out best soccer of the season until the 70th minute,” said Head Coach Jim Rickard. “We got tired from a long day and their speed finally broke us down.”

The team had an early departure Thursday morning, flying to Phoenix shortly after sunrise and waiting to play until 8 p.m.

The shots may have favored the Firestorm 18-10, but according to Rickard the Mustangs had plenty of opportunities and actually got several attempts off to score that weren’t counted. Still he credits the Firestorm for having a strong team.

“Best first half by far and some nice play until before their second goal,” he said. “ACU is very talented and very deep, and road games are tough.”

The five goals on the season for Martino, a senior from Genova, Italy, ties his career high from a year ago. He has collected his fifth goal in just nine games, while last year his five goals came in 16. The Mustangs have eight more games in the regular season, all of which are conference matches.

Master’s has one more match in Arizona as they play No. 20 OUAZ in Surprise on Saturday, Oct. 1. Game time is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and can be seen on GoMustangs.com/watch.