LORETTO, Pa. (Sept. 24, 2008) – Sophomore Owen Gombami (Pumula North Bulawayo, Simbabwe/Mzilikazi) (Pumula North Bulawayo, Zimbabwe / Mzilikazi) is beginning to make himself comfortable at the Division I level. He scored both of Saint Francis' goals to help lead the Red Flash men's soccer team to a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory over Patriot League foe Bucknell on Wednesday afternoon at the Stokes Soccer Complex.

Gombami, who transferred to Saint Francis following his freshman season at Lee University in Tennessee, scored his third goal in two games, the last of which came at 98 minutes, 54 seconds to help SFU win its second straight match to improve to 2-5-1 on the season. The Bison fell to 3-4-1 overall.

The Red Flash outshot Bucknell 17-13 in the match, but the Bison held a 9-3 edge in corner kicks. The Bison had 4 shots in the overtime frame, while SFU capitalized on its only chance.

Saint Francis snapped a three-match winless streak against Bucknell. The Red Flash were 0-2-1 in their last three meetings against the Patriot League squad. They improved to 4-6-2 all-time against the Bison.

Freshmen Kingsley McLeod (Rocky Mount, N.C. / Rocky Mount) and junior Brian Murphy (Newbury, OH/West Geauga) (Chesterland, Ohio / West Geauga) both received and assist on the game-winner. The play began on a throw-in on the other side of midfield when sophomore Brent Brockman (Dillsburg, PA/Northern York) (Dillsburg, Pa. / Northern York) passed in to Murphy, who took two dribbles and fed a pass into the middle of the field about 35 yards out. McLeod then hit Gombami with a pass where he could beat two defenders on each side of him. Bucknell goalkeeper Will Byrne came out to cut off the angle, but Gombami shook off two defenders and chipped the ball over Byrnes head and into the top right corner to give the Flash a 2-1 victory at 98:54.

Gombami's first goal came off the counter attack from a Bison corner kick with freshmen Taylor Powers (Petaluma, Calif./Casa Grande) (Petaluma, Calif. / Casa Grande) and Andrew Pedigo (Plano, TX/Plano) (Plano, Texas / Plano) receiving the assists. Pedigo received an outlet from Brockman and fed Gombami in the middle of the field. Gombami hit Powers down the right side, and Powers skipped a pass just out of the reach of a Bison defender to Gombami, who again beat two defenders to get to the ball and chip it from right to left over the head of Byrne to give Saint Francis a 1-0 lead at 20:00.

That lead held throughout the final 25 minutes of the first half until the Bison finally struck at 80:11. However, the Red Flash had two great chances to put the game out of reach before Bucknell found the back of the net.

At 61:22, Gombami just missed his second goal when he received a cross about 10 yards out at the right post. The cross got by Byrne, who had come out to cut it off. Gombami had an open look at the net, settled the cross at his feet and rifled a shot targeted for the right side, but Bucknell defender Matt Hittson came flying in to head the ball out of harms way.

Hittson would record another defensive save at 74:12 on a shot from junior Omo Sumah (AccoKeek, MD/Gwynn Park) (AccoKeek, Md. / Gwynn Park). Byrne came out to try and smother another cross, but Sumah was able to knock it loose and had a clear look at the net from 8 yards out. However, Hittson again came running in to take the shot off his chest to keep it 1-0.

The Bison finally struck paydirt in the 80th minute. Conor O'Brien had a free kick from about 21 yards out just above the left corner of the 18-yard box. He rifled a shot at ground level to the right side of the net. Another Bison player came streaking across and disrupted the view of Red Flash goalkeeper Brad Williams (San Lorenzo, CA/Arroyo) (San Lorenzo, Calif. / Arroyo). The ball went untouched into the lower right corner to tie the match at 1-1.

Williams made 4 saves in the match to secure his second straight win, while Byrne made 3 stops and was the beneficiary of two defensive saves from Hittson. O'Brien recorded 7 shots in the match, including all 5 that made it on net for the Bison.