UDC Men’s Soccer Defeats Felician College 2 – 1, Winning the Shippensburg Tournament and Starting the Season 2 – 0

Shippensburg, PA – The UDC Men's Soccer Team Defeated Felician College 2 – 1 in their second game of the weekend.  With the win today, the Firebirds won the Shippensburg Tournament and have vaulted out to a 2 – 0 start for the season under new Head Coach, Matt Thompson.

The Firebirds were paced by junior, captain midfielder Mario Benegas (Frederick, MD/ El Salvador - Urbana HS) who tallied a goal and an assist on the day.  The match was even most of the way, but the Firebirds were able to outshoot the Golden Falcons 14 – 10 overall. 

UDC's first goal was scored by sophomore, midfielder Roque Hernandez (Gaithersburg, MD/ El Salvador - Northwest HS) on an assist by Mario Benegas at the 17:09 mark in the first half.  Junior forward Adriel Garcia (Sau Paulo, Brazil - Anglo Campinas HS) registered the double assist on the initial goal of the game.  The Golden Falcons countered, however, with a goal from Josh Delva (assist Daniel Camargo) in the 29^th minute of the first half.  Not until the 79:07 mark in the second half were the Firebirds able to tally the go ahead goal by Mario Benegas on an assist from Adriel Garcia. 

The Firebirds advance to 2 – 0 with the win, a dramatic turnaround from the 4-13-1 record a year ago.  Head Coach Matt Thompson had this to say about the win, "We played well, overall a good team performance.  Our players played well coming off the bench, and it is always good to get more people involved.  It's a good start to the season for sure, but we have a long, long way to go."

The Firebirds take the field again this Wednesday, September 7^th at home against Chestnut Hill at 4:00 pm.