STONER'S LATE HEROICS SECURES COMEBACK WIN AT ELMIRA

ELMIRA, NY --The Wilkes University men's soccer team played a complete 90 minutes, fighting until the very end when freshman John Stoner (Etters, PA/Red Land) scored his second goal of the match in the 89th minute, lifting the Colonels past Elmira College 3-2. With the comeback win Wilkes record improves to 7-2, while Elmira saw their record fall to 4-3.

The Colonels fell behind 1-0 in the 20th minute when Elmira forward Andre Germano was able to finish a breakaway. Senior Wilkes goalkeeper Dave Marr (Muncy, PA/Warrior Run) was able to get a piece of the shot but it was not enough as the ball trickled into an empty net. The Colonels offense created some good scoring chances but were unable to capitalize on any of them. Wilkes finished the half with seven shots, four of which were saved by Elmira goalkeeper Nick Lapinski.

The dormant Wilkes first half offense, erupted for their first of three goals in the final 45 minutes when Stoner cracked a shot from the top of the 18 off the far post and into the back of the net in the 49th minute. The tie was short lived however, as Brian Lowe put Elmira back on top in the 53rd when his low shot squirted past a diving Marr into the side netting.

Playing behind a goal seemed to spark the Colonels as the offense picked up their play and became increasingly dangerous as time slowly ticked off the clock. In the 73rd minute Nicholas Patricia (Apalachin, NY/Vestal) equalized the score at two when he was able to re-direct an Abdullah Albannay (Kuwait City, Kuwait/Abdullah Jaber) cross from the left flank into an empty net. With the momentum seized the Colonels continued to push forward on the attack and Stoner was able to poke home a scrambled ball inside the six for his second goal of the match and the game winner for the Navy and Gold.

Wilkes finished with 16 shots, eight on goal and Marr recorded eight saves to collect the win.

Wilkes returns to action on Saturday at Schmidt Stadium when they host Elizabethtown College at 3:30 p.m.