Firebirds Overcome Slow Start, Force 3-3 Tie in Season Opener vs. Bloomfield

NEWARK, DE – After falling behind 2-0 in the first 16 minutes of action, the University of the District of Columbia men's soccer team rallied to score three straight goals only to surrender the equalizer in the 74^th minute and settle for a 3-3 double-overtime tie in its 2015 season opener Thursday afternoon vs. Bloomfield.

Fifth-year head coach Matt Thompson's new-look Firebirds squad featuring 11 newcomers was led by returning sophomore Liam Haycock's (Nutrition – Stafford, England/Codsall Community HS) three-point (one goal, one assist) offensive effort, as well as a goal apiece scored by first-year transfer Mehdi Badache (Mechanical Engineering – Tunis, Tunisia/Santa Barbara City College) and freshman Kevin Ortez (Undecided – Alexandria, VA/TC Williams).  

With a heat index close to 100 degrees at the 1 p.m. kickoff, the Bears (0-0-1) pounced early with two consecutive goals by Brazilian native and junior college transfer Paulo Claudio. The two-time Jayhawk Conference Offensive Player of the Year at a community college in Kansas opened the scoring for the day in the ninth minute, finishing from 18 yards off of a through ball by Marin Jonjic. Later, he put Bloomfield up 2-0 in the 16^th minute, capitalizing after one touch on a long ball down the middle of the field by Hugues Douyon.

Badache, a 6'5" junior transfer who registered 18 points on seven goals and four assists last year at Santa Barbara City College, scored the first Firebird goal of the 2015 campaign in the 20^th minute as he headed in, from the near post to the far post, a corner kick by Haycock. Neither team would score for the remainder of the half as BC took a 2-1 lead into intermission.

Just less than six minutes into the second half, Haycock tied the score with a goal of his own off of a pretty pass from the middle to left side by freshman Aaron Noel (Business Management – D'Abadie, Trinidad/Saint Mary's College). Later in the 64^th minute, Noel found an open Ortez in the box from about 20 yards out, and the local TC Williams product beat Bears' keeper Wilson Cisneros to the far post for the Firebirds' third straight and go-ahead goal.

Exactly 10 minutes later, however, Claudio was wreaking havoc again as he chipped the ball into the box to be one-timed by Bloomfield's 2^nd leading scorer from 2014, Shaunavon deSouza from 15 yards out to knot the score, 3-3.

The Bears took four more shots on goal and two corner kicks during the rest of regulation, but returning NSCAA 2^nd Team All-Region senior goalkeeper Louis Connor (Elementary Education – Birmingham, England/Arthur Terry School) was up to the task, stopping all four shots to preserve the tie and force overtime.

With the heat taking its toll on both teams, neither the Bears nor Firebirds could muster much offense in either overtime session. District of Columbia managed two corner kicks but not one shot on goal, while BC managed two shots on goal which were both easily handled by the veteran Connor.

Connor, who closed to within five saves of tying Kyle Heatherington ('11) for 2^nd on the University of the District of Columbia career saves list, finished with nine saves and three goals allowed in a complete game effort. Bloomfield's Cisneros stopped four of seven shots he faced, also in a complete game effort.

The Bears had a 16-11 shooting advantage but were also the much more penalized team with 20 fouls to UDC's eight.

The Firebirds will resume action in the Wildcat Invitational on Saturday as they take on the tournament host, Wilmington University at 2:30 p.m.