CEDAR CITY, Utah – After 86 scoreless minutes, the Southern Utah University soccer team's offense came alive when Ellie Vasey headed in a corner kick from Ellen Lundeberg. The late goal was not enough, though, as SUU could not erase a two-goal deficit and fell to the San Jose State Spartans, 2-1, Friday afternoon.

The loss dropped the Thunderbirds to 1-4-0 on the year while SJSU saw its record improve to 2-2-0.

"We competed like crazy today," said SUU head coach Kai Edwards. "We started off slow which is my fault, so we will get that corrected. But we worked hard, we competed and we're fun to watch. Would I like our results to be better? Of course. But I like where we are today compared to two weeks ago and compared to yesterday."

The Spartans started the scoring early when Carly Burns found the back of the net in the eighth minute. The T-Bird defense tightened up after the early concession, but unfortunately surrendered an own goal in the 74th minute.

Desperate to recover and climb back into the match, SUU kept its foot on the gas and possessed the ball for extended periods in its attacking third. The Thunderbirds continued to press and earned a corner which led to Vasey's goal off a Lundeberg assist.

The header was Vasey's very first shot of the season which led to her first goal. Lundeberg likewise scored her first point of the season.

The Thunderbird offense was efficient on the day, putting four of five shot attempts on frame. SUU also played a clean game as they committed only one foul the entire match. Goalkeeper Megan Short played all 90 minutes between the pipes and was credited with 13 saves on SJSU's 14 shots on goal.

Southern Utah will now take an extended break as its next match does not occur until Sunday, September 12, when the T-Birds welcome Pacific to Cedar City. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. MT with the match available to watch on ESPN+.

For all the latest on Southern Utah soccer, follow @SUUSoccer on Twitter and Instagram, and like the Southern Utah Soccer Facebook page.