CANTON, Ohio – Despite being down 2-0 early on, the Ohio Dominican men's soccer team fought back to top the Malone Pioneers 3-2 in the first conference game of the season.

The Panthers now stand at 1-0-1 (1-0 GLIAC) while the Pioneers fall to 1-2-0 (0-1).

10 minutes into the first half, Malone jumped to the early 2-0 lead when Rubem Miranda connected off a Kelvin Aquino pass for a breakaway to score at the 10:35 mark. 14 seconds later, Josh Abend netted his second goal of the season off a breakaway pass by Sam Tonelli.       

Sophomore Brent Wahle (Pataskala, Ohio) cut the lead to one at the 18:54 mark of the first half, after fellow sophomore Nigel Patterson (Woodbridge, Ontario) set him up with a perfect pass for the open shot.

With less than three minutes left in the first half, freshman Jacob Atkinson (Hilliard, Ohio) dribbled to the keeper and cut the back over to freshman Michael Fragoulis (Chios, Greece) for his first career goal as a Panther, and knotted the score at two.

After the break, the Panthers tightened their defense, allowing Malone just two shots in the second half, compared to the 11 ODU took.

In the 73rd minute of the half, Fragoulis fought to gain control of the rebounded shot and connected for the go-ahead goal.

For the game, ODU outshot Malone 24-5. Sophomore Macklin Robinson (Cincinnati, Ohio) collected his first win of the season while making two saves in goal.

Ohio Dominican returns to the pitch on Sunday, Sept. 15 as the Panthers return to their home turf to battle against Tiffin at 4 p.m.

Contact: Sarah Twiggs
twiggss@ohiodominican.edu