FAIRHOPE, Ala. - Faulkner knocked off a previously unbeaten and receiving votes Xavier (La.) with a late winner from
Caden Maldonado to back up a brace from
Angel Ugwumba Sunday afternoon at the Fairhope Soccer Complex.
The Eagles started hot in the match with the first three shots of the match before Ugwumba broke through off a perfectly placed pass by
Konsti Witte. The Ecuadorian goal scoring machine shot low and was hindered by the outracing-keeper but bounced underneath and rolled free towards goal where he tapped in the follow-up effort in the 18th minute.
However, Xavier quickly showed why they're ranked 26th in the coaches poll and responded incredibly to got back in the match in the 23rd minute. Lennart Niederlaender scored as the ball took a bad wind-aided hop over the Faulkner defense for the easy tap-in. XULA took the lead just 10 minutes later when Niederlaender headed in a short-range effort. The Gold Rush held the lead to halftime and carried a lot of confidence, especially after beating No. 8 William Carey earlier this week.
However, the game flipped quickly in the second half as Ugwumba scored his seventh goal of the season just a minute into the second half with a slick pass from
Iago Ramm setting him up. He sits second in the nation for goals scored.
The match got increasingly chippy through the end with both teams seeing good chances go missing, highlighted by a lower corner robbery by
Harrison Shiner on a free kick from the edge of the penalty area to keep the match level in the 70th, until
Caden Maldonado subbed in. One minute later, the senior got on the end of a
Joel Gomez cross for the headed goal high over the keeper in the 83rd minute for his first goal of the season.
Faulkner outshot Xavier 13-6 and put eight shots on goal compared to just three for XULA.
The Eagles improve to 4-2 and get ready to take on SCAD-Savannah Saturday at 5 p.m. at Billy D. Hilyer Stadium for the final non-conference contest.
