PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The University of Charleston Golden Eagles are back in the national title game after a 3-1 come-from-behind win over the Lynn University Fighting Knights.
JUST THE BASICS
SCORE: Charleston 3, Lynn University 1
LOCATION: PITTSBURGH, Pa, -- Highmark Stadium
TEAM RECORDS: Charleston (21-2-1), Knights (17-2-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Blue Knights struck first as Alexandre Horveno played the ball to Lukas Osterman who put the ball on a rope to the top of the goal from the 1-0 lead over the Golden Eagles at the 18:32 mark.
25 minutes into the contest Ettore Ballestracci played a low driven ball across the face of the goal, that was met by Gabriel Rodruiguez who scored the equalizer with just over 10 minutes to play in the half. Less than three minutes later, Christos Charalambous struck the ball just outside the box, beating the keeper to the right side of the goal for the 2-1 lead.
The Blue Knights continued to be dangerous on the attack narrowly scoring before the end of the half, but the heroics of the Golden Eagles defense kept the score at 2-1 to close the first 45 minutes of play.
Both teams settled in on defense for the second half, but in the 85th minute Ballestracci nailed a laze to the top right corner of the goal, to spread the gap to 3-1 as the minutes wound down.
Charleston came away with the 3-1 victory, and are heading to their fourth national championship in six seasons, and their second under head coach, Dan Stratford.
UP NEXT
The Golden Eagles will play for their second national title in three years on Saturday. They are set to take on the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles at 3:00 p.m.
--UC--
