FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Indiana Wesleyan University men's soccer team defeated host University of Saint Francis (Ind.) 4-3 on Wednesday night in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The No. 18-ranked Wildcats built a 3-0 lead in the first half, but had to survive a second half scare from the Cougars to earn their fifth consecutive victory.

Indiana Wesleyan sophomore midfielder Mitch Lobdell scored the first goal of the match in the 11th minute off an assist from sophomore forward David Trainer.

Twenty minutes later, senior forward Joel Trainer slotted a ball into the 18-foot box to senior midfielder Mason Bragg who blasted the shot just under the Saint Francis keeper to give the Wildcats the 2-0 lead. Minutes later Lobdell scored his second goal of the night in the 37th minute. Lobdell took a free kick and curled it to the back post to push the Wildcat lead to 3-0.

Saint Francis' Ryan Crawford was able to get USF on the scoreboard two minutes later to cut the IWU lead to 3-1 as the teams headed into halftime.

The Cougars struck first in the second half as Crawford once again tallied a mark against the Wildcats, as the Indiana Wesleyan lead was trimmed to 3-2.

Joel Trainer responded in the 76th minute to give Indiana Wesleyan a much needed insurance goal at 4-2. Senior midfielder Christian Davis assisted on the goal after Trainer cracked a shot to the upper far post.

Saint Francis netted the final goal of the match in the 90th minute to complete the scoring at 4-3.

The Wildcats ended the night with 18 shots which eight of them were on goal. The Cougars collected 11 shots while IWU senior keeper Andy Rdzok made four saves on the evening.

Indiana Wesleyan is now 6-5-0 this season and 3-0-0 in the Mid-Central College Conference. Saint Francis suffers their first defeat of the season and now stands at 9-1-2 with a 2-1-0 record in the conference.

Indiana Wesleyan returns to the pitch at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, October 4, as the Wildcats host No. 3-ranked Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College during IWU Homecoming. The match will be aired live on TV 51, Brighthouse Ch. 23 or on the WIWU website.