Andreas Blanke's Game-Winner In Second OT Lifts Men's Soccer To Wild 5-4 ECC Win Over Dowling

Bridgeport, Conn.-Sophomore Andreas Blanke (Gothenburg, Sweden) fired home the game-winning goal, his second tally of the season, 2:01 into the second overtime period off an assist from sophomore Clayton Ulmer (Hamden, Conn.) to lift the University of Bridgeport men's soccer team to a spirited 5-4 East Coast Conference home victory over the Dowling College Golden Lions on Saturday evening.  With the win, UB is now 7-5-0 overall and 3-2-0 in conference play.  Dowling falls to 5-5-3 overall and remains winless in conference play at 0-3-2.  Saturday's win by the Purple Knights over the Golden Lions is the first time Bridgeport has defeated Dowling since a 3-0 victory in 1994.

Bridgeport got off to a great start on Saturday night when sophomore Markus Naglestad (Kristiansand, Norway) scored his team-leading eighth goal of 2011 in the 13th minute off an assist from Ulmer.  Less than 10 minute later however, Naglestad was shown a red card forcing the Purple Knights to play a man down for the rest of the night.

Playing a man down did not seem to faze UB early on, as the team would add two more goals in the first half on a Patric Brundin (SR, Gothenburg, Sweden) penalty kick and a Josh Pellegrini (Sr, Vineland, N.J.) tally off an assist from Blanke to take a 3-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Dowling would cut the lead to 3-2 with a score just 3:25 into the second half and another in the 54th minute, but UB freshman Juan Galarza (Danbury, Conn.) hammered home his third goal of the season in the 68th minute off an assist from Patric Brundin to give Bridgeport a 4-2 lead.

The Golden Lions would use being up a man to their advantage down the stretch in the second half scoring goals in the 75th and 82nd minutes to send the game into overtime before Blanke netted the game-winner early  in the second OT.

Bridgeport is back in action at home on Thursday evening as they host Felician College in a non-conference match.  Action gets underway at Knights Field at 6:30 p.m.