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Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College men's soccer team suffered a last-minute loss to visiting Wilkes University Tuesday afternoon, surrendering the game-winning goal with just 1:33 left on the clock. With the loss, the Soaring Eagles drop to 4-3 on the year while the win brings the Colonels to 7-2. 

The start of the game created a few good scoring opportunities for the Colonels, but goalkeeper, Nick Lapinski '17 made four early saves to keep Wilkes off the scoreboard. The Soaring Eagles followed up Lapinksi's strong play to give him a lead as they tallied the first goal of the game. Ernesto Valverde '14 flicked a header to a streaking Andre Germano '15 who finished his left-footed shot past the diving goalie. The 1-0 lead would hold until halftime.

It was a tale of two halves for both EC and Wilkes as each team started the second half differently than they had ended the first half. The Colonels were intent on tying up the score and did so almost four minutes into the half with John Stoner's first goal of the game. He found himself with an open lane to the goal and put his shot on net. Lapinksi was able to get his fingertips on the ball, but his deflection did not carry away enough as the ball hit the inside of the post and crossed the goal line.

The Soaring Eagles would respond, however, as they would retake the lead just four minutes later as Brian Lowe '16 would get in on the action, finishing a volley past the Colonel keeper. Michael Bryant '17 would tally an assist on the play.

The 2-1 lead for EC remained for the next 20 minutes, but the offensive pressure applied by Wilkes was creating a number of opportunities for them to tally the equalizer. The Colonels did just that in the 72nd minute when Nicholas Patricia redirected an Adbullah Albannay cross into the net.

As the clock ticked down, it looked as though the game was headed to overtime, but Wilkes had other plans. The Colonels crossed the ball into the box where it was tipped around by a number of players, but not cleared by the Soaring Eagles. Stoner found his way through the confusion to net his second goal of the game and give his team a 3-2 lead. EC tried to score a late game-tying goal, however, their efforts were thwarted as the final whistle blew.

Elmira will look to bounce back from this heartbreaking loss on Saturday, September 28th when they travel to Pittsford, NY to take on Empire 8 foe, Nazareth College. Kick-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.