Lackawanna College

9/2/26
 
WILKES-BARRE TWP., Pa. – Both Lackawanna College men's soccer spent almost two minutes in the lead before King's College scored the equalizer in the 82^nd minute, denying the Falcons their first win and forcing both teams to share the spoils in a 1-1 draw on Wednesday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium in Wilkes-Barre Township.
 
In a first-ever match-up between the two schools in men's soccer, the Falcons (0-1-1) had the advantage in shots (14-10) and corners (7-3), but neither team could seem to get much in the way of offense going, both wasteful with their chances through the first 75 minutes.
 
The breakthrough finally came in the 80^th minute for Lackawanna College when a turnover deep in the King's zone went to Cristian Lopez-Contreras (Guatemala) on the left side. Lopez-Contreras pinged a pass back into the top of the box in search of Miguel Pereira (Revere, MA), who boxed out a defender, used his right-foot to bounce the ball into space, turned hard on his left shoulder, and whipped a shot past the keeper to score the first goal of the year for the Falcons and put Lackawanna ahead 1-0.
 
For a minute and 49 seconds, Lackawanna had a lead, but the Monarchs (0-0-1), playing their first game of the season, would not be denied. Joaquin Cedillo beat a Falcon to a ball that deflected up and tried to push the ball across the face of goal. His ball had serious pace on it and may or may not have taken a Lackawanna deflection to beat the keeper and knot the game at 1-1.
 
Lackawanna College had a chance in the 84^th minute when a foul was drawn at the top of the box, but Lopez-Contreras's ball pushed just wide right. A minute later, King's College hit a shot from the right side that hit the woodwork and bounced free.
 
Over the final five minutes, the Monarchs were defending with a fury as the Falcons brought the pressure, dumping long balls into the box, but to no avail. The action went right up to the final whistle, as a foul on the right side was called on King's College, setting up the Falcons with a free kick in a dangerous spot with three seconds remaining. Adrian Argote (Leonardtown, MD) tried to curl a shot or cross into the box, but the ball flew over the crossbar as the clock hit zero.
 
Periera's goal is the first goal for the Falcons competing as a four-year program, and the draw is another positive step for coach Will Flannery in his first season in charge. The Falcons are next in action on Saturday, September 5^th, when the Berkeley College (NJ) Knights come to town. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm ET at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore.