Fort Wayne, Ind. - After trailing 2-1 with 30 minutes to play Saturday afternoon, the Marian men's soccer team rallied with two goals in a three-minute window to take down St. Francis 3-2. The Knights win is their first in league play, as they improve to 4-6-2 overall and 1-2-1 in league play.
St. Francis came out early and shocked the Knights, burying the game's first goal in the sixth minute. The Cougars' Enrique Subiran scored his first goal of the season after the home team maintained possession coming off an early corner kick. Marian rebounded after allowing the early goal and went to work, taking three shot attempts over a five minute window to get the offense going. The Knights came up empty, but continued to fight as they ended the opening 45 minutes with five shots.
In the second half, Marian kept their aggression going as they blitzed the net. After giving up an early St. Francis corner kick, the Knights took possession back and charged with Nate Van Keulen putting away a goal. Van Keulen's 51st minute goal leveled the score, but the Cougars were able to respond just 10 minutes later with a go-ahead goal, with Simon Hemler netting the score.
With 30 minutes remaining in the match, Marian found a new gear, as they staved off a wave of Cougar shots and flipped possession. Sebastian Gonzalez and Jalen Rice generated some momentum with a shot attempt each, and in the 77th minute Justin Kapp delivered with his second goal of the season, beating the keeper to once again level the match. Tied 2-2, Marian wasted no time finding another goal, as Alan Tenorio drained a score in the 79th minute. Tenorio was set up by Van Keulen on the goal, pushing the Knights in front for the first time in the match at 3-2.
Marian's defense played strong to close out the final 11 minutes, denying a pair of shots and three corner kicks to hold the score in the visiting team's favor, as the Knights come from behind efforts stole the win.
The Knights finished the game with 11 second half shot attempts to bring the total to 16 for the night, and were led by Jack Reynolds. Van Keulen led the team with three points, as he scored the first goal for Marian and assisted on the game-winning goal. Tenorio's goal came on his only shot of the game, as he netted the game-winning score. Kapp also had two shots, scoring Marian's second unassisted goal of the contest.
Marian will be on the road for their next match, as they travel to Ohio to take on Mount Vernon Nazarene. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m.
MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.
