HARRISONBURG, Va. (Sept. 6, 2010) – The Saint Francis men's soccer team rallied from a 2-0 deficit, but suffered its first defeat of the year, 3-2, in overtime on Monday night at James Madison University.

Paul McAulay's game-winner at 97 minutes, 27 seconds ended SFU's bid to get off to a 3-0 start for the first time in program history.

The Red Flash fell to 2-1 on the year, and will look for their third win when they visit St. Bonaventure at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

“We showed a lot of heart to come back from the 2-0 deficit,” said Saint Francis head coach Michael Casper. “I'm not sure that we could have done that last year. This team has made great progress in those regards. However, this is a disappointing loss as we missed out on a golden opportunity. It would have been nice to finish off the comeback with our third win of the year. We will train hard this week and turn our attention to facing a tough St. Bonnie team next weekend.”

C.J. Sapong gave the Dukes a 1-0 lead in the 28^th minute, and Torey Beiro gave them a commanding 2-0 lead in the 54^th minute.

However, senior co-captain Patrick Fleming (Dunedin, New Zealand/Bayfield) (Dunedin, New Zealand / Bayfield) was awarded a penalty kick in the 64^th, and buried his chance to get Saint Francis on the board with his third goal of the season. Just six minutes later, sophomore Makala Hairston (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall College) (Baltimore, Md. / Calvert Hall College) tallied his first career goal on a feed from senior co-captain Tyler Hibbs (St. Catherine, Canada/Governor Simcoe) (St. Catherine, Canada / Governor Simcoe).

Sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Valcicak (Herndon, Va./Gonzaga College) (Herndon, Va. / Gonzaga College) stopped seven shots in the contest, while Hibbs was credited with a defensive save for SFU. JMU goalkeeper Ken Manahan had five saves.

The Dukes held advantages in shots (27-11) and corner kicks (9-4), while the Red Flash held the edge in fouls (14-11). JMU was called for three offsides, and SFU was whistled once.

For periodic men's soccer updates and other Red Flash news, follow Director of Athletic Communications Bob Volkert on Twitter at SFUVolkert.

Game Notes: SFU has scored seven goals in three games with all of the scoring in the second half; Patrick Fleming (Dunedin, New Zealand/Bayfield) has eight points (3g, 2a) through three games, giving him three more points than he had in 2009, and just one shy of SFU's team leader (Daniel Moir (Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys)) from last season; It took Saint Francis seven games to score seven goals in 2009. The Red Flash have seven goals in three games this season.