EDWARDSVILLE – Bruno Andino broke open a scoreless game with 7:40 left in the second half to lift No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology to a 1-0 MAC Freedom victory over the Wilkes University men's soccer team Saturday afternoon at Bruggeworth Field.
 
Wilkes slipped to 4-7-1 overall and 1-2 in conference matches. Stevens improved to 9-0-2 overall and remained unbeaten at 2-0-1 in league matches.
 
Wilkes' best chance in the first half came at the 28:35 mark when Xavier Guerreiro's (Newtown, PA/Council Rock North) header was saved by a diving Stevens goalie off a corner kick from Matthew Horwedel (Delanson, NY/Schalmont Senior).
 
Four minutes later Colin Schulmeister (Old Saybrook, CT/Old Saybrook) looked to continue his hot streak as he broke free inside the box and drilled a shot that was blocked out of bounds 5 yards off the goal keeping the game scoreless with under ten minutes to play.
 
The score remained tied throughout the second half as Stevens earned the next scoring opportunity when a player was fouled in the box and awarded a penalty kick. Andino's penalty shot was stopped by a diving Nick Kinzler (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) to keep the game scoreless with just over 20 minutes left in regulation.
 
Nicholas Surgent (Wall. NJ/Wall) had one last scoring attempt for the Colonels when his shot from 12 yards out was saved by Ducks keeper Justin Cross and the rebound kicked out of danger by a Stevens defender with under 13 minutes remaining.
 
Andino then connected on his shot from the top of the box where it found the back of the net under the crossbar as Stevens escaped with the road victory in dramatic fashion.
 
Stevens held a slim 14-10 shot advantage in a match that was a back-and-forth affair throughout. Each squad finished with four corner attempts while Wilkes was whistled for 11 fouls and Stevens six.
 
Kinzler finished with four saves in goal for the Colonels while Cross made three stops to record the shutout win.
 
Wilkes returns to MAC Freedom play Tuesday when they travel to cross-town rival King's College for a match scheduled at 7:00 p.m.