Nashua Eagles forward Nick Cardenas of Hudson, left, battles Mass United's Odean Irons for the ball during the Eagles' tough 2-1 loss in their home opener at Rivier's Joanne Merrill Field on Wednesday night.

NASHUA – Jerold White yelled out from the sideline at Rivier University’s Joanne Merrill Field on Wednesday night, “I want the next one.”

Unfortunately for the coach of the Eagles of the International Soccer Club of Nashua, the opponent, Mass United, got the next one. And the one after that.

And that’s all the visitors would need to ruin the Eagles’ long-awaited homecoming for a 2-1 win in the United Premier Soccer League Northeast Conference/Patriot Division showdown. Two second half goals erased Nashua’s 1-0 halftime lead.

The good news was that the Eagles (0-1-1) were playing their first game in the city in three years. The bad news was they just couldn’t generate enough offense in the second half.

“Absolutely not,” White said. “We dipped off in our defense, we dipped off in our pressure. Passes in the offensive third just weren’t there.

“We just came out soft. And they came out and pressured us. And we weren’t able to sustain that pressure. It was a difficult matchup in the second half.”

Trailing 1-0, Mass United got a free kick in the 67th minute and Mauricio Martinez put it just out of the reach of Eagles goalie Jose Silva, who otherwise played well with six acrobatic saves.

But the tough one was a bang-bang goal in the 80th minute, a quick rebound goal by Jesus Batiz. Batiz pounced on the ball after an initial save by Silva, who had no chance to stop it.

“In the first half, we didn’t play up to our abilities,” Mass United coach Stefano Franciosa said. “In the second half, we started playing the way we know how to play. It was a completely different game.”

The good news for the Eagles and their fans was that striker Quincy Appah, who had knee woes duirng the winter, was able to get healthy and provided the Eagles’ only goal with a blast to the far corner at 35:50 of the first half for the locals’ 1-0 edge.

The problem was, Appah didn’t touch the ball nearly enough in the second half.

“Yeah, we just started playing together, a lot of people have been off for a while with the pandemic,” Appah said. “So there was a little bit of fitness issue, with a few games we’ll correct that.

“I’m feeling good now. Just need to get a little bit of sharpness, and we’ll do well.”

“The free kick, man, just devastating,” White said.

For his team, it was home, but just not sweet enough.

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