PORTALES, N.M. – Despite two goals from freshman Aderi Arthur-Dede, the Eastern New Mexico men's soccer team opened up their season with a 3-2 loss at the hands of Western Texas College in exhibition action on Saturday afternoon inside Greyhound Stadium.

Arthur-Dede's goal in the 80^th minute to narrow the deficit down to 3-2 gave the Greyhounds a resurgence in the final 10 minutes of action that saw them up the pressure on the Westerners defense until the final whistle. The Hounds totaled 12 shots on goal for the contest, including four from Arthur-Dede, who captained multiple scoring chances for Eastern throughout the afternoon.

Arthur-Dede opened up the scoring in the 21^st minute to give the Hounds the 1-0 advantage after surviving a few early defensive miscues that tested keeper Ryan Flores. Flores totaled four saves in his one half of action, but surrendered two goals in a four-minute stretch midway through the half to allow the Westerners a 2-1 lead moving into the halftime break.

Western Texas continued to keep the pressure on the Hounds defense and tacked on one more goal in the 62^nd minute that extended their lead to 3-1. After building their lead in the first 75 minutes of action, the fatigue that is often associated with early season games seemed to creep in on the Westerners as the Hounds used their depth on the bench to keep fresh legs on the pitch and continued to press.

Arthur-Dede's goal in the 80^th minute came by way of a penalty kick after he was tackled in the box in order to prevent a quality scoring opportunity. The Englishman proved he would be a focal point of the Hound's attack throughout the season and created several scoring chances for his running mates in the final 10 minutes that would have served as the equalizer.

Fellow forward Gregory Franusic provided the assist to Dede's first goal while defenders Brandon Bautista and Caio Pereira produced the other two shots on goal for the Hounds.

With a game of learning experience under their belt's, coach Jon Fridal and his squad will refocus to their regular season opener on Aug. 30 inside Greyhound Stadium where they will take on Southern Nazarene at 2 p.m.