HICKORY, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's soccer team lost its season-opening match by a 4-0 score Wednesday evening at Lenoir-Rhyne.

Head coach Ike Ofoje's team garnered the first shot of the contest as Andre Simmond rocketed home an attempt that was stopped by Zach King just 80 seconds into the match.

The Pacers' keeper, Chase Boulton, was up for the challenge at the 4:49 mark as he stuffed a shot from Marc Fernandez to keep it scoreless.

Junior Brett Smith tried to get the visitors on the board with back-to-back shots near the seven-minute mark, but one was blocked and the other missed just wide of the post.

USC Aiken continued to push forward and in the 23^rd minute of action, Simmond took a corner kick. He found Chris Perez in the box, but Perez had his header blocked. The Pacers tallied two more corner kicks over the next few minutes, with the second resulting in a shot by Ryan Dwyer. However, Ofoje's team was kept off the board.

The Bears netted what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 27^th minute of play off a breakaway into the upper right of the frame for a 1-0 edge.

Simmond garnered a corner kick in the 42^nd minute and Smith managed to get a shot off, but it was stopped by King at the 41:40 mark.

After halftime, Adria Dalmau's header was stopped by a defender. Rodrigo Goncalves' attempt was saved while Roberto Biendicho missed high in the 62^nd minute.

With 64:30 on the clock, the Pacers nearly evened the contest but Simmond's shot hit the crossbar. Goncalves' header missed wide of the target.

L-R added a goal in the 69^th minute for a 2-0 lead. However, Ofoje's team tallied three shots, including two on goal, that were unable to find the back of the net within a 63-second span. The Bears tacked on a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes for the final score.  

For the match, each team registered 17 shots, including six on goal. Both squads had six corner kicks.

The Pacers return to the pitch Saturday when they host Mount Olive at 5 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.