CHARLESTON, Va. -- The Western Michigan men's soccer team opened up the 2021 season with a 2-1 loss at Virginia on Thursday night.

WMU (0-1) was down to two men due to red cards but sophomore defender Aidan O'Connor was able to tie the game up, 1-1, in the 84th minute. O'Connor fired a rocket from outside the box and into the net for his first collegiate goal, with Charlie Sharp picking up his first assist of the season.

UVA retook the lead minutes later in the 88th to seal the game on a goal by Ank Nibogora from deep inside the box.

"It was a really competitive match, full of intense moments and at the end of the day we made some mistakes they capitalized on," said head coach Chad Wiseman. "Our fight was tremendous throughout the match. If we carry that fight with us moving forward this season we will be just fine. We were able to find the equalizer down two men and that's simply unbelievable effort and commitment. Congratulations to Aidan on hsi first college goal and it was a banger!"

The Broncos went down a man early when Caden Jackman was issued a red card in the 10th minute. WMU held strong but UVA broke through in the 28th minute on a goal by Leo Afonso. Paul Wiese found Afonso in the center of the box and he headed it into the right corner of the net, just past an out-stretched Lukas Von Lienen. 

WMU kept the deficit to one entering the second half but two quick yellow cards by Philip Smith resulted in the Broncos going down to just nine men for the remainder of the game. 

Von Lienen finished with a career-high four saves. 

We strive as a program to play in these types of matches and environments," Wiseman added. "There are always lessons to be learned and I'm confident our players will grow from tonight."

Western Michigan stays on the road, traveling to Loyola-Chicago on Sunday for a 6 p.m. kickoff.