BRIDGEPORT, CONN. - - In an early season matchup of East Region powers and a pair of nationally ranked foes, No. 3 LIU Post scored a pair of goals late to top No. 22 Wilmington, 3-1, to kick start the University of Bridgeport Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Knights Field.
Moving into the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II Men's National Poll at the No. 22 spot earlier in the week and sitting in third in the East Region, the Wilmington (2-1) men's soccer team battled back to respond with a goal, but fell late for its first loss of the year. Nationally third ranked and tops in the East Region, LIU Post scored a pair of goals with less than 10 minutes remaining to take the early season tilt.
After a slow start statistically, the Wildcats responded to outshoot the Pioneers, 13-12, in the second half to close the gap to 22-18 for the match.
Once the goal line was finally crossed, the scoring came frantically towards the end of the match. LIU Post was able to get on the board first, tallying a mark in the 73rd minute.
Two minutes later, the Wildcats knotted the score with a through ball to the left side. Elton Joe kept his point scoring streak alive with the pass to Lance Berry who was able to tie the game at the 74:10 mark of the contest, his first goal of the season.
The Wildcats kept the pressure on following their goal, putting the game's next three shots on the board over the next five minutes, including two in which Pioneer goalkeeper Marco Jorgensen was needed to make the save.
But it was LIU Post who responded to break the tie, as leading scorer Eivind Austboe volleyed in a cross coming from the left side for his fourth goal of the year at the 83:06 mark of the contest.
The Wildcats bounced back with a corner kick and back-to-back shots, but both missed the goal frame. The Pioneers were able to add onto the lead and essentially end the match with their third goal in the 88th minute, a long box to the top of the box which was finished off by Johann Kristjansson.
Joe led the Wildcats with six shots, four of which were on goal. Berry tallied three shots including the team's lone goal while Kris Michael and Sam Fahnboto recorded a pair of shots each. Frank Hall got the start in goal for the Wildcats and made three saves before turning it over to Spyros Stergiotis for the second half. Stergiotis recorded four saves in the second 45 minutes, but fell to 1-1 on the year with the loss.
The Pioneer's Jorgensen made nine stops in moving to 3-0 on the young season.
Wilmington will remain in Connecticut for one more contest in the UB Tournament. The Wildcats will play host Bridgeport on Saturday at 7 p.m. for the nightcap. Bloomfield will take on LIU Post to start the action on Saturday.
