WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's soccer team scored three goals in the second half to lift them over Gannon University 3-2 in non-conference action at the Williamsville South High School Stadium this evening.

In a game that saw no goals in the first half, the Wildcats and Golden Knights combined to score five in the second half.

The Wildcats struck first on a Niklas Ringdahl Bohlin (Fjaras, Sweden) shot when he cut in from the left wing and placed the ball onto his right foot and finished from outside the box on the opposite side of the goal. For Ringdahl Bohlin, the team's MVP in 2017, it was his first goal of the 2018 campaign. The lead didn't last long however as the Golden Knights equalized a minute later with a 20-yard shot from Eduardo de Bonis Encinoso.

A minute and a half later, Daemen took the lead again when a foul was given outside the top of the box. Ringdahl Bohlin and freshman defender Giacomo Bacigalupo (Lavagna, Italy) stood over the ball, but it was the rookie Bacigalupo who struck the ball, bouncing it off the underside of the crossbar and over the goal line. This was the freshman's first career goal for the Wildcats.

Daemen increased its lead to two when they scored off another set piece in the 73rd minute. Again, a free kick was awarded and Ringdahl Bohlin and Bacigalupo were both standing over the ball. Ringdahl Bohlin took on the shot this time, putting it over junior goalkeeper Hedi Mehnaoui's head, and giving the Daemen sophomore the first multi-goal game of his career.

Cam Alexander scored at the 88:38 mark to bring Gannon back within one. After the goal, there was an altercation at the goal line between Gannon's Eduardo de Bonis Encinoso and Daemen's Philipp Schmidt (Lahr, Germany), which led to a yellow card for de Bonis Encinoso, two red cards on the Gannon bench and an ejection for Gannon head coach Dale White.

Schmidt (Lahr, Germany), who has now started all four games between the pipes for Daemen this season, tallied a season-high seven saves on the day to contain the Gannon offense. Gannon was able to rattle of 15 shots with nine on target, compared to 13 shots and only four on target for the Wildcats.

Daemen moved to 2-2 on the year with tonight's victory. Gannon, which was picked second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference preseason poll after posting an 11-7-1 record last season, dropped to 0-3 in 2018. The Wildcat victory snapped a three-game slide in the all-time series with Gannon. Daemen's last win against Gannon was a 3-1 home victory during the 2014 season. The Wildcats and Golden Knights have now met in five consecutive seasons. 

East Coast Conference play begins on Saturday when Daemen hosts Molloy College at 1:30 p.m. at Karrer Field.