JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A near constant wall of water kept the pitch soaked at Southern Oak Stadium for much of the night, but a bad bounce during a break in the rainstorm was the ultimate decider in Jacksonville University men's soccer's 1-0 loss to Campbell on Sunday.

"It was tough for both teams, and I think we really handled ourselves well," said Head Coach Mauricio Ruiz. "We didn't falter from our game and held true to what we're trying to do. The conditions were difficult but I think we handled ourselves well."

The Dolphin back line held strong in the opening minutes, allowing just one shot by Campbell in the first 34 minutes of the game, a header that was easily saved by Liam O'Connor. In that same stretch JU's offense was extremely aggressive, pouring in eight shots.

During a brief respite from the rain, O'Connor saved a shot on goal by Campbell's Josh Hughes. The ball squirted out of O'Connor's hands and dribbled towards Alemu Mercer-Miko. Mercer-Miko fired off a shot into the top right corner just as O'Connor was recovering, giving the Camels a 1-0 advantage. O'Connor finished the game with five saves and just one goal allowed.

"The one that counts didn't go our way," said Ruiz. "I thought we threatened behind the line a lot and threatened their keeper several times, but we had one mental mistake that cost a goal. That's college soccer. If you don't capitalize on opportunities given to you, you could have 50 and it wouldn't matter. But it was a good performance from our guys to be dangerous the entire game."

JU had three more opportunities to even up the score before the halftime break, but all three attempts were saved by the Campbell keeper.

In the second half Jacksonville outshot Campbell 11-3, including two beautiful headers that were off target by just a few inches and a couple of terrific corners that couldn't be converted. The rain reached peak intensity during the second half, reducing visibility quite a bit. Campbell's defense stepped up its intensity in the second half as well, picking up eight fouls to JU's none and earning two yellow cards in the process.

Campbell's goal in the 35th minute proved to be the difference as the Camels' defense bent but didn't break. The Dolphins came close several times, but ultimately will continue to search for their first goal of the season in Friday's home game against UAB.

"We always tweak things between games," concluded Ruiz. "It's early in the season, and these games are great learning opportunities. We want to be good in November, and with a good opponent like UAB coming in on Friday we need to tweak things to continue to get better, especially in the final third."

Steven Saunders and Diego Diaz were named to the All-Tournament team for the 2017 Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament.