SPARTANBURG, SC – The Emmanuel Men's Soccer team traveled to Spartanburg, SC tonight to face the Converse University Valkyries in the first round of the Conference Carolinas Championship. It was a defensive battle from the start, with neither team finding the net in the first half. The Valkyries took the lead early in the second half, but the Lions roared back to score three goals in the final 10 minutes of play.  Converse scored in the final minute to keep things close, but the Lions came away with a 3-2 victory to move onto the Quarterfinals. With the win, the Lions improve to 7-7-3 overall. 

The two teams competed from the start, with neither team finding the net in the first half of play. The Valkyries outshot the Lions, 8-3 in the half with 2 shots on goal. Emmanuel goalkeeper, Bryan Amezcua ended the half with 2 saves in goal to keep things scoreless heading into the break. 

Following halftime, Converse struck first with a goal in the 68^th minute to go up 1-0. The Lions answered 10 seconds later with a goal by Sergio Aspas to tie things up at 1-1. The Lions kept the momentum, with a goal by Colin Wedderburn at 80:42, assisted by Dylan Persinger and Aspas to put the Lions up 2-1. At 83:07, Aspas found the net for his second goal of the game, assisted by Brock Williams to make it 3-2, Lions. The Valkyries cut the Lions lead to 3-2 with 15 seconds left in regulation, but Emmanuel held them off to earn the 3-2 win and move onto the quarterfinals.

The Lions will now travel to Murfreesboro, NC where they'll face #3 seed Chowan University on Saturday at 7PM.

For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.