AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's soccer team lost a hard-fought 1-0 contest to Florida Southern Saturday evening in the season opener for both teams.

The Pacers are now 0-1 on the year while the Mocs are 1-0.

Head coach Ike Ofoje's team controlled the play in the early going, posting a pair of shots on goal in the first 14 minutes of play. Neil Hamilton's attempt in the 14^th minute was stopped, keeping it scoreless.

Kyllian Martin and Jordan Misiri each missed shots narrowly over the next 12 minutes of play as the contest remained at 0-0.

Late in the first half, a foul in the box allowed the Mocs to earn a penalty kick, which was converted for the score.

Ofoje's team pushed hard in the second period, taking a pair of corner kicks in the first 10 minutes of play, but neither resulted in a shot attempt.

For the match, USC Aiken was out-shot 8-7, including 5-3 on goal. Ofoje's squad amassed four corner kicks to three for the visitors.

Alejandro Chavarria played all 90 minutes between the pipes. He registered four saves in the loss.   

The Pacers return to action Tuesday when they travel to Newberry for a match starting at 4 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.