DAYTON, Tenn. – The Cumberland Valley Christian Blazers suffered two close losses in Division 1 of the National Association of Christian Athletes (NACA) boys soccer tournament Thursday.

The Blazers (19-7) lost 1-0 to Somerset County Public of Kentucky on a late penalty kick, then dropped a 3-2 decision to Our Savior of New York. The two losses sent the Blazers into the NACA consolation bracket. They play at noon Friday.

“We did really well, just did not have the stamina to maintain the high level of play for 160 minutes today,” CVCS coach Stan Hott said.

The Blazers outshot Somerset 20-15, but the game was scoreless until only two minutes remained in regulation. The Blazers attempted to clear the ball but were called for a handball in the box. C.J. Rou converted the resulting penalty kick to send the Blazers to defeat.

Each team had three corner kicks, and Blazer goalkeeper Jack Gabler made 14 saves.

“We possessed around 90% of the game,” Hott said. “Somerset chased and we were unable to get any traction a majority of the game. Somerset won their first two games 8-0 and 7-0.”

In the second game, CV Christian took a 2-0 lead at the half. Our Savior scored five minutes into the second half before tying the game around the midway mark and netting the go-ahead goal with about 13 minutes left.

For the Blazers, Jimmy Hong scored on assists from Eli Black at the seventh and 15^th minutes of the first half.

“Our Savior was very fast and wore our team down,” Hott said. “We did well the first half but were unable to maintain our stamina.”

CVCS held a 20-16 edge in shots, and each team had two corners, and Gabler made 13 saves.