Lackawanna College

10/3/26

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The scoreless streak finally came to an end, and Lackawanna College men's soccer earned its first-ever victory against Division II competition, as the Falcons took a 1-0 win on the road at Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday afternoon at the Pitt-Johnstown soccer field.
 
The Falcons (1-7-2) had been muddling through a scoreless drought that spanned nearly 600 minutes, dating back to September 5^th, but finally found their breakthrough against the Mountain Cats (1-7-0) in the 18^th minute. A turnover near midfield was picked up by Malik Salau (Lagos, Nigeria), who quickly pumped a long, looping ball across the field into the box on the left side, onto the foot of Miguel Pereira (Revere, MA), who wasted little time in pumping a shot back to the right side, snapping the net and sending the Falcon sideline into euphoria.
 
Lackawanna had four shots in the first half, all on target, but the Falcons couldn't extend the lead, while neither of UPJ's shots found the frame, so the lead remained at 1-0 for Lackawanna heading into the break.
 
Both teams came out aggressively in the second half, with UPJ posting five shots in the first 20 minutes, but nothing was on target. Back-to-back shots from the Mountain Cats in the 71^st minute were off target, and a shot from Lackawanna's Tito Tokunboh-Salako (Columbia, MD) was saved, forcing a corner for the Falcons.
 
Late in the game, in the 89^th minute, keeper Kevin Nievas (West Palm Beach, FL), in his first game back from injury, came up with his only save, a low shot that he kept out to preserve the clean sheet and the win.
 
Lackawanna College outshot UPJ, 12-10, with nine shots on target, and the Falcons forced eight saves from the Mountain Cats. Pereira led the Falcons with four shots, two on target, and the goal, while Tokunboh-Salako and Jozsef Mark Szilagyi (Budapest, Hungary) each recorded a pair of shots on target. Byron McNeil (Springfield, IL), Michael Hoy (Mechanicsburg, PA), and Tyler Gutierrez (Denton, MD) each recorded shots on target.
 
The victory is not only the first for the Falcons against a PSAC and Division II opponent, but also the first for head coach Will Flannery in his career. Lackawanna College will look to keep the momentum rolling in its next match-up, a home contest against East Stroudsburg University on Wednesday, October 7^th, at 3:30pm ET at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore.