After struggling a bit at the start, the University of Charleston men's soccer team rallied from an early deficit to return to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the third consecutive season by vanquishing Mountain East Conference foe Urbana 2-1 in the third round of the NCAA tournament Thursday in Brookville, New York.
It was the third time that the Golden Eagles (18-2-1) have beaten the Blue Knights this season and the seventh victory in a row overall for UC.
"We handled this one very professionally," Charleston coach Chris Grassie said. "We didn't play very well for the first five minutes or so - we came out flat and conceded a bad goal. But our guys deserve credit for picking themselves up and became the better team in the game."
Urbana put Charleston behind for just the fourth time this season when it took a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game on a goal by Lars Blenckers.
But the Golden Eagles responded quickly, keeping their composure and getting goals from Felipe Antonio and Freddie Tracey before halftime to seize the lead. From there, UC never gave the momentum back to the Blue Knights.
"It was tough going behind and playing in a new facility that we don't play in, but we trusted the guys to get the job done," Grassie said. "We knew we had time, you didn't see any panic because we were down a goal and I was pleased with that."
Next, Charleston will look to make it back to the national semifinal for the third year in a row. In 2015, the Golden Eagles fell to eventual champion Pfeiffer University in the semifinals and lost to Lynn in the 2014 national championship game.
As they look to make it back, they will have to go through an Adelphi team that beat LIU Post 4-0 on its home field on Thursday and is 19-1-1 on the season.
"That was a very impressive win they had against LIU Post," Grassie said. "They do a great job of staying intact, keeping their defensive midfielder at home so they can defend with five and use some of their skillful guys up front to attack effectively. It'll be a great test for us, we'll have to earn it."