Cedar Rapids, Iowa – The Roosevelt women's soccer team put forth a valiant effort, but was unable to come away with a result in its inaugural match, falling to host Mount Mercy by a 1-0 margin on Wednesday afternoon at Lower Kingston Field.

The contest was scoreless until the 58^th minute when a Mustangs (1-0-0) corner kick led to a scrum for possession in front of the net. The Lakers (0-1-0) cleared Mount Mercy's initial salvo off the goal line, but the ball found its way to the boots of Mustangs junior Haley Rinaldi, who tucked the ball past Roosevelt keeper Sydney Self.

The Lakers attempted to push forward over the final 15 minutes, but despite numerous runs were unable to find the equalizer.

Mount Mercy put pressure on Roosevelt from the opening whistle with three separate strikes in the opening 30 minutes striking the crossbar. The Lakers starting XI, which featured 10 freshmen, held strong, though, and found its footing in the final 15 minutes of the opening stanza. Two offside whistles thwarted Roosevelt's best offensive runs in the first half.

Self tallied five saves for the Lakers in goal, while the Mustangs outshot Roosevelt, 20-3.

Head Coach Shaun Kohn's crew will return to the pitch on Sept. 1 with a noon kickoff at Bethel (Ind.).