IRVINE, Calif. – A valiant second-half effort by the host Concordia Golden Eagles led to a narrow 3-2 margin against the defending regular season PacWest Conference champions.

Visiting Point Loma led 2-0 at intermission in Irvine on Saturday and was up 3-0 after a penalty kick was converted by Elijah Langford. But Concordia refused to roll over and jumped back into the match by staying on the attack over the final 30 minutes.

In the 64th minute of play, Nathan Nava sent a corner kick towards the back post where captain Domenyk Jara bounced a header off a defender. The ball trickled back towards Edgar Granados who took aim at the left post after seeing an opening on that side of the net. Granados let it fly, Bryan Maldonado tapped the ball in off his head to affect the shot slightly and usher it through and CUI was on the board.

You could feel the momentum shifting towards the home team as multiple headers by CUI almost found the back of the net over the course of the next 25 minutes.  The Golden Eagles actually wound up with more shots (16 to 13) and corner kicks (seven to two).

The score remained 3-1 in favor of the Sea Lions until the final minute. That's when CUI had two more bursts of energy on the offensive end. Ryan Smith scored off a cross by Miguel Arroyo to trim the deficit to 3-2 with about 55 seconds left until the final buzzer.

Incredibly, the Golden Eagles managed to build one more run in the final minute and nearly drew a penalty kick in the box, but no whistle sounded and the Sea Lions escaped with a narrow 3-2 victory.
CUI continues its five-game home stand this Wednesday against Vanguard at 6:30 p.m. PT.

CLICK HERE for the full CUI men's soccer schedule

Senior Night will be this coming Saturday, Oct 18 at 6:30 p.m. against Azusa Pacific.

CLICK HERE for the full PacWest Men's Soccer Standings