Frantic Firebird Comeback Falls Short; Men’s Soccer Drops 3-2 Decision at St. Thomas Aquinas

HILLBURN, NY – Trailing 3-0 to host, St. Thomas Aquinas with just under 30 minutes left in regulation, the University of the District of Columbia men's soccer team fought frantically to tie the score, but fell one goal short (3-2) in East Coast Conference action Wednesday afternoon at Eugene Levy Field.

The Firebirds are now winless in eight of their last nine games as they fell to 4-7-2 overall and 1-5-1 in league play. They also remain winless on the road with an away record of 0-5-1. STAC, meanwhile extended its win streak to three games as they evened their overall record at 5-5-3 and improved to 2-3-2 in the ECC.

The Spartans dominated play in the first half, registering 12 shots and four corner kicks compared to District of Columbia's four shots and one corner kick. Firebirds graduate goalkeeper Omar Gonzalez (Business Administration – Los Angeles, CA/Park View HS) made three saves in the first half, but St. Thomas Aquinas struck for two goals just minutes before halftime. First it was Laurie Child who took a pass from Daniel Davren and took a chip shot over Gonzalez for the game's first goal just before the 38-minute mark. Davren then scored his own goal on a 25-yard strike, again beating Gonzalez high for STAC's second goal. The Spartans led 2-0 at intermission.

A little over 15 minutes into the second half, Child struck again on a bicycle kick immediately following a saved shot by Davren. That goal would prove to be the game-winner as the Firebirds came soaring back into the game.

Sophomore captain Bakary Coulibaly (Electrical Engineering – Hyattsville, MD/La Lumiere HS) scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season to finally put District of Columbia on the board in the 65^th minute of play. Sophomore Byron Brown (Accounting – Silver Spring, MD/Pocono Mountain HS) was credited with the assist.

Then in the 74^th minute of play, freshman Elio Hernandez (Health – Germantown, MD/Northwest HS) notched his second goal of the season off of a cross from freshman Simon Bratke (Undecided – Bonn, Germany/Collegium Josephinum Bonn) to bring the visiting Firebids within a goal, 3-2 with over 26 minutes still left to play in regulation.

In the remaining 26 minutes, the Firebirds took one corner kick and two shots, but could not find the equalizer as STAC held on for a 3-2 victory.

District of Columbia returns for its first home game in three weeks when the Firebirds host Molloy on Saturday, October 20^th at 3 p.m.