Firebirds Score Three Unanswered Goals to Beat Roberts Wesleyan, 4-2; Clinch Program’s First Ever ECC Playoff Spot

WASHINGTON, DC – After falling behind 2-1 in the first half, the host University of the District of Columbia men's soccer team responded with three unanswered goals to earn a decisive, 4-2 victory over East Coast Conference foe Roberts Wesleyan College on Wednesday afternoon.

UDC, by virtue of this win and losses today by St. Thomas Aquinas College and Queens College, is assured a top-four spot in the conference standings at season's end, thereby clinching the program's first ever ECC playoff berth. LIU Post (5-0-1) also clinched a playoff spot today with a 3-0 win vs. Mercy College.

The Firebirds, who are ranked No. 7 in the first NCAA Division II East Region poll of the year which was released today, improved to 11-4 overall and tied a program record for league wins in a season as they improved to 5-2 in the ECC. Roberts Wesleyan dropped its fifth straight game to fall to 3-11 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

Sophomore midfielder Gabriel Torres, the nation's 2^nd leading goal scorer and 3^rd leading point scorer entering the game, was once again a difference maker with three points on two goals and one assist. With 44 points this season, Torres is now 2^nd on the program's all-time list, surpassing Laurent Seck's mark of 43 in 1999. Also, with 18 goals this season, Torres is two shy of tying Seck for 2^nd place on the season goals list.

Senior forward Raphael Pacano scored his 6^th goal of the season off of Torres' ECC-best 8^th assist of the year for the gamewinner just before the 50-minute mark, and sophomore forward Salah Warid added an insurance goal in the 85^th minute.

UDC struck first just shy of seven minutes into the game as a Redhawk defender fell down right in front of Torres, allowing him to fire a shot to the right corner of the net for the game's first goal. Junior forward Kevin Ortez was credited with an assist for his cross into the box.

Roberts Wesleyan answered, however, with back-to-back goals by Sam Moody in the 13^th and 24^th minute, respectively. Moody first blasted a free kick from just outside the box that initially ricocheted off the right post but eventually rolled across the goal line, then he found himself wide open, backside, on a well-placed throw-in by Elijah Jarvis, which he headed in for the go-ahead goal.

A little over 10 minutes later, Torres forced a 2-all tie with his 6^th penalty kick goal of the season. He is now 6-for-7 on the year. Despite a 16-3 shot advantage in the first half, UDC settled for a 2-2 tie at halftime.

The Firebirds would tighten up defensively in the 2^nd half, holding the Redhawks scoreless on four shots (2 SOG), and adding a goal apiece by Pacano and Warid to earn the 4-2 victory.

UDC had commanding advantages in both shots (26-7) and corner kicks (9-2), and sophomore goalkeeper Joao Brusamolin (5-3) preserved the victory with three saves. RWC's John Ciavaglia stopped eight of 12 shots faced, including two acrobatic saves on point-blank blasts by Torres and junior midfielder Michael Agboola.

Next up, UDC travels to Amherst, NY to take on ECC foe Daemen College on Saturday, October 21^st at 1 p.m.