TicketsSept. 30, 2006
, -- A pair of late goals by 's offensive stars lifted the Bearcats to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against No. 17 St. John's Saturday night at Belson Stadium. The win was UC's sixth straight and improves the Bearcats' record to 8-3-1 overall and 5-2-0 in BIG EAST play. falls to 6-3-2 overall and 3-2-2 in conference action. UC is now four points ahead of both the Red Storm and USF in the BIG EAST Red Division.
took an early lead, much to the delight of the partisan crowd of 958 at Belson Stadium. In the 28th minute, Ryan Soroka contolled a Rory Quinn pass in the box and beat UC keeper Mike Vessells from 10 yards to put the Red Storm on top, 1-0.
One of the top defensive clubs in the nation, had allowed just eight goals in 10 matches coming into the match. But the UC offense, as it has for the previous five matches, was able to put multiple goals on the board.
Omar Cummings, the Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, received a pass in from Kenny Anaba, beat several St. John's defenders and fired a shot past Preseason BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year Jason Landers to the far post to pull UC even in the 78th minute. Just three minutes later, Brad Simpson played a long ball to Cummings in space, who flicked a pass on to Anaba. Anaba got in on Landers one-on-one and beat the netminder low for the game-winner.
Cummings has now posted a point in six of his last seven matches and has a goal and four assists in his last two. He leads the conference in assists with nine and has added five goals. Anaba scored his third game-winner of the season and also has five goals on the year.
"This was a hard-fought win against a very tough team," head coach Hylton Dayes said. "We have to give our guys a lot of credit coming from a goal down and scoring two goals late. This puts us in a good position as we head down the stretch of conference play."
UC has outscored its opponents, 16-4, during its school-record six match winning streak, knocking off a pair of nationally ranked clubs (No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 17 St. John's) in the process. Vessells has allowed just three goals during the winning streak, lowering his goals against average to 1.12.
The Bearcats will return home to take on divisional foe on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Gettler Stadium. Part of the Bearcat Sports Festival, the match will kick off at 7 p.m., after the UC-Akron football game. Fans will be admitted to the soccer match for just $1per person by presenting their football game ticket at the gate.