The Red Raider men's soccer (1-3) team fell to top ranked Central Methodist 5-0 Thursday night. 

Northwestern played strong and solid defensively in the first half as the Raiders survived the first half 0-0 after giving up 8 shots and 6 corners. 

The Raiders were able to keep the Eagles off the board for the first 15 minutes of the second half but the Eagles found their way on the board with a simple tap in with a ball sitting in the Raider six yard box. The Raiders could not clear their box and were punished for it.

The Eagles scored again 7 minutes later and the score would remain 2-0 until the 80th minute when the Eagles would pour on the goals. CMU would score three goals in seven minutes to finish off the match. 

CMU had 24 shots, 9 on goal, and had 10 corners. The Raiders only mustered up 3 total shots and one corner. 

"Tonight was physically and mentally challenging," commented head coach Dan Swier. "Central Methodist played like a championship-caliber team and we kept it close in the first half. I would have liked us to stay mentally engaged through the end of the match because when we lost our edge we gave up a few soft goals."

The Raiders will take on William Woods (Mo.) Saturday at 12pm.