MACOMB, Ill. – Jerson Carrasco scored his first collegiate goal late in the match but Western Illinois (5-12, 3-3) was unable to overcome a 2-0 deficit, falling to Denver 2-1 on Saturday (Nov. 9).

Carrasco's goal was the first goal Denver (6-0, 11-3-3) allowed in Summit League play.

“Hats off to them, they got two with the wind and we only got one," said head coach Dr. Eric Johnson. "I think the guys off their bench are as good as the guys on the field. They're very disciplined and organized in the back. They're just at a higher level right now and they proved it by going through the league without a loss. It's going to take a special performance to beat them in the tournament.”

Saturday's match marked the final regular season home game for four departing seniors.

Playing against the wind in the first half, the Fighting Leathernecks were put under pressure immediately, as the Pioneers earned the first of three first half corners just 40 seconds into the match.

Denver's Sam Hamilton put the Pioneers in front 1-0 in the 31st minute. Hamilton gathered a pass from Zach Bolden at the top of the box and deposited his chance past a diving Yves Dietrich.

“We got caught with the ball in the back and didn't make a good decision,“ Johnson said. “It was a bad mistake and they capitalized as good teams will. I think if we would have gone through the first half zero to zero we would have been in good shape.”

Bolden would add a goal of his own when he cut past a Leatherneck defender and finished off his seventh goal of the year.

With the wind in their favor in the second half, Western nearly cut the Denver lead in half but Drew Whalen's header was just off target.

Late in the match, Erick Bloom took advantage of the wind and found Jerson Carrasco behind the Pioneer defense. Carrasco's shot went far post to give the Leathernecks a chance at forcing overtime.

“He's been a tough-luck story,” Johnson said. “He broke his foot before the season started but it was awesome for him today to score and it was a great goal, too.”

Just a minute later, Mario Alvarez had a shot blocked resulting in a corner. Nothing would come of the corner and time ran out on the Leathernecks.

With the loss, Western will either be the third or fourth seed in next weekend's Summit League Tournament.

Carrasco, Husref Jupic, Quinlin Johnson, Drew Edmond and the rest of the Leathernecks will be back in action Friday (Nov. 15) as Western Illinois hosts The Summit League Tournament.