Purple Knights Come From A Goal Down Twice To Best Cougars In Conference Win

Caldwell, N.J. – The University of Bridgeport men's soccer team won their second consecutive CACC match after beating Caldwell University 4-2 in New Jersey on Tuesday. The Purple Knights outshot the Cougars nearly two to one and benefited from the extra chances. The victory improves UB's season record to 7-5-3 overall and 6-2-1 in conference play.

UB would come into the match level with Caldwell in conference wins, each team at five and the Cougars looking to close the gap on Bridgeport in the third place standing. Caldwell did start the hotter of the two teams, scoring the opening goal in the ninth minute. A corner kick delivered at the near post and headed home by Israel Dos Santos Neto.

Bridgeport would waste no time drawing level as Maximilian Kissel (So., Wiesbaden, Germany) found himself on the end after Lapo Romieri (Fr., Milan, Italy) attempted to play the ball goalward off a Josef Preci (Grad., Savona, Italy) long throw. The instinctive strike from the German leveled the game at 1-1.

Caldwell looked to be a set piece specialist team as in the 29^th minute, they would score again off a corner. This time, a ball played to the back post by Murilo DeOliveira and knocked down and into the back of the net by Yigit Kilic. The first half would end with a 2-1 scoreline, Caldwell advantage.

UB started the second half on the front foot as Maximilian Kissel would score his second goal of the game and 12^th of the season just over three minutes after the restart. This time, it was Bridgeport that produced something from the training pitch Lucas Sousa (Jr., Campinas, Brazil) whipped the ball to the back post off a corner. Luis Rubio (Grad., Edinburg, Tex.) rose well and nodded the ball back across the face of the goal where Kissel who get his head to it first and level the game at 2-2.

Lucas Sousa would turn from provider to scorer himself in the 57^th minute after a clearance was first won by Lucas Mah (So., Basel, Switzerland) and flicked on by Kamrock Tovar (Jr., Stratford, Conn.). Sousa would get onto the end of the flick, run at the Caldwell backline before finding the bottom right corner from just outside the box to gift the Purple Knights their first lead of the afternoon and to notch his fifth goal of the campaign.

Bridgeport would double their lead in the 78^th minute when Joao Miranda (Fr., Bridgeport, Conn.) one versus one with the Caldwell defender, looked to whip the ball across the penalty area but took a massive deflection off another defender and immediately in the back of the Cougar net. This 4-2 UB lead would hold tight until the final buzzer, securing the second conference win in a row for the visitors.

Purple Knight shot stopper Hugo Franceschi (Fr., Toulouse, France) earned his sixth win of the year as he made four saves from six shots faced.

Up next, the UB men's soccer team will finally play at home, after a three-game stint on the road, when they welcome Georgian Court University on Saturday, October 28^th. One of the many events scheduled for homecoming that day, kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m. on Knights Field.

PHOTO BY CLARUS MULTIMEDIA