FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's soccer team got on the board first, but surrendered three straight goals before eventually suffering its third one-goal defeat of the season, falling 3-2 this afternoon to host Queens College in East Coast Conference action at the QC Soccer Field.

The loss today sends Daemen to 1-8-0 overall and 0-3-0 in ECC play.  Queens, which was picked fifth in the ECC preseason poll, improved to 4-2-3 overall and 1-1-1 in the league.

Newcomer Colin Edwards (Burlington, Ont./Tiffin University) put the Wildcats ahead 1-0 when he converted a penalty kick opportunity at the 23:06 mark following a foul inside the box on Queens.  For Edwards, it was his first tally in a Daemen uniform since transferring from Tiffin University where he notched two goals over his first three seasons.  The goal marked Daemen's first on a penalty kick since Logan Podrebarac (Burlington, Ont./Tiffin University) made good on his attempt, ironically in a 3-2 loss at Gannon University on September 15, 2015.  The Wildcats had been 0-2 on penalty kicks this season before Edwards broke through today.

Minutes later, freshman forward Emgi Gousse (Amityville, N.Y.) pulled the hosts even with his third marker of the season.  Gousse pounced on a rebound opportunity at the 27:37 mark; Oscar Yepes (Flushing, N.Y.) and Andras Breuer (Budapest, Hungary) were credited with assists on the play.

It looked as if the teams would head to the locker room tied at the half, but senior forward Nikolas Maher (New Lennox, Ill.) scored on a free kick just 24 seconds before the break to put Queens on top, 2-1.

The deficit got deeper when Breuer netted his team-leading fifth goal of the year at the 56:22 mark.  Maher picked up an assist as Breuer capitalized on a rebound of the former's free kick.

Daemen was able to pull within one at the 70:59 mark when senior forward/midfielder Cole Beale (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) took a feed from Edwards and beat QC net-minder James Brostowski (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) with a shot to his left in a one-on-one situation.  It was Beale's second goal of the season and the 10th of his career.

Coach Bobby McColl's Wildcat squad put on the pressure late in the game, generating four shots and three corner kicks in the final nine minutes of the contest.  Brostowski came up with a save as Beale was looking for the equalizer in the 85th minute.  Later, a header from freshman back Sean Palmer (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence) off classmate Ali Shawish's (Lackawanna, N.Y./Lackawanna) corner kick sailed just high with under two minutes to play.

Queens produced 12 total shots, placing eight on frame.  The Wildcats were slightly less efficient, posting five shots on goal out of 11 total attempts.  The Wildcats held a 5-3 lead in corner kicks.

Brostowski went the distance and made two saves to earn the win for the Knights.  His counterpart, sophomore Justin Figler (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island), made five saves in defeat for the Wildcats.  Figler now ranks second among all ECC net-minders with 33 saves this season.

With a goal and an assist today, QC's Breuer pulled into a tie for third in the league with 13 points this season.

The two-goal day represented Daemen's best offensive output of the season, and their first game with multiple goals since a 5-3 loss to the University of Bridgeport in the 2015 season finale.

The Wildcats have now dropped seven games by one-goal margins in the last two seasons, including a pair of 2-1 (OT) losses earlier this year to Ashland University and St. Thomas Aquinas College.  

Daemen looks to right the ship when they lock up with ECC foe Molloy College later this weekend (Sunday, October 2) at the RVC Sports Complex on Long Island. 

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen men's soccer team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenMSOC on Twitter.