BOX SCORE LORETTO, Pa. (Oct. 19, 2014) – The Saint Francis U men's soccer team staged its biggest comeback in a decade by erasing a two-goal deficit to overcome LIU Brooklyn, 3-2, Sunday evening at DeGol Field.
 
Brice Merwine opened the scoring in the 19th minute for the Blackbirds (3-9; 2-1-0). Naeem Charles took a set piece near the right corner and passed it to Merwine who beat Saint Francis U (9-5-1; 3-1-0) keeper, Andrew Garcia (Sicklerville, N.J./Timber Creek Regional), right.
 
Isak Doumbia took a set piece 30-yards out in the 26th minute for LIU. Doumbia passed the ball to Tanner Sica who put the ball past Garcia's right, extending the Blackbirds lead to 2-0.
 
Despite being down 2-0 at the half, the Red Flash held a four to one advantage in corner kicks and a five to three advantage in shots, a trend that would continue in the match.
 
"I was really disappointed with the two goals we conceded in the first half," said head coach Michael Casper. "We have to do better with those, but the second half response was excellent." 
 
Ryan Byers (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland) broke open the scoring for the Red Flash in the 68th minute when he received a corner kick from senior forward Pablo Medina (Monterrey, Mexico/IMG Academies). Byers beat the Blackbirds keeper, Logan Keys, with a header left.
 
Saint Francis U did not waste time finding the equalizer. In the 69th minute Medina crossed the ball into the box off of a corner kick where he found Calvin Rezende (Davie, Fla. /University School at Nova Southeastern). Calvin deflected the ball left past the Blackbirds keeper.
 
Following Medina's two assist performance he now moves into a tie for fourth with 8 assists on the season. Medina entered the week ranked 12 in the nation.
 
The Red Flash took the lead in the 79th minute when Byers scored his second goal of the evening. Byers touched the ball past the Blackbird defender, after receiving a pass from Conner Rezende (Davie, Fla. /University School at Nova Southeastern), and beat the keeper, slotting the ball in the left corner of the net.
 
"I thought the boys showed a tremendous amount of character today.  To bring the game back from down two goals showed that they have the heart, and the quality to be a special team. I thought we were tenacious and relentless and really put LIU under a lot of pressure and knew once we scored LIU was going to have a hard time keeping us out.  I am really proud of the guys and am happy to see them do something special tonight," said Casper.
 
The Red Flash outshot the Blackbirds with a 16-11 advantage, including 11 shots in the second half. Byers led all players with seven shots, five that were on goal. Calvin had four shots and three on goal. Francis de Vries (Christchurch, New Zealand/Cashmere), Medina, and Shaun Russell (Chesapeake, Va./Norfolk Collegiate) also recorded shots with three, two, and one respectively.
 
Garcia recorded three saves for the Red Flash and was credited with the win, his ninth this season.
 
The Red Flash hit the road Oct. 24 for a one game road trip against Sacred Heart. The match kicks off at 4:30 p.m. Saint Francis returns home Nov. 2 for senior day versus CCSU.