The Lancaster Bible College men's soccer team climbed back above the .500 mark on Wednesday, as the Chargers defeated Juniata, 3-1 at Charger Field. The victory propels the Chargers to 3-2-1 this season, while the Eagles dropped to 0-5-2. 

How it Happened: Things could not have gone any better for the Chargers to begin the game as just 56 seconds into the game, senior Dom Baffone took a pass from fellow senior Edward Bills and was able chip the ball up and over Juniata goalkeeper Andrew Yeich into the left-hand side of the net. Lancaster Bible had chances to double its lead almost 15 minutes later, as the Chargers had three straight corner kicks, but could not convert. 

The Eagles began to control more of the play late in the half, as Lancaster Bible goalkeeper Thiago Naque made three saves in the first half and the Chargers were outshot, 6-4. 

After Juniata took the first two shots of the second half, Lancaster Bible had four straight shots and two corner kicks, but Eagles' goalkeeper Jacob Owings, who entered at the beginning of the second half, stood on his head and kept the Eagles in the game. 

With Owings locking down the defensive side of the field, Juniata caught a break as back-to-back shots in the Lancaster Bible box were blocked and the ball found the foot of Jarrod Gibson who put the ball past Naque and several Lancaster Bible defenders, for his first goal of the year.

Lancaster Bible re-took some control of the game following the Juniata goal, and 11 minutes after Gibson scored, sophomore Kenny Akselsen got free down the left side of the field and as he raced for a loose ball, Owings came out of the goal to try and beat Akselsen to the ball. Fortunately for the Chargers, Akselsen got there first and chipped the ball up and over Owings and into the back of the net to restore Lancaster Bible's lead. The goal was the first of Akselsen's collegiate career and could not have come at a better time for the home team.

The Chargers maintained their lead through the latter parts of the second half as Naque made a save on Charlie Kovach with under 16 minutes to play. Sophomore Dan Bewersdorff put the game away for the Chargers with just over five minutes to play as he took a pass from Caleb Nelson, worked around a defender and fired a shot from 24 yards away that went up and over the outstretched arm of Owings.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible outshot Juniata, 17-14, but each team took six shots on goal...The Chargers had a 9-1 edge in corner kicks...Naque made five saves to earn his third victory of the season...Nelson and Bewersdorff each had three shots for the Chargers...Gibson took a game-high four shots for the Eagles.

The Coach Says: "It was great today to see the guys respond the right way when things were tied up in the second half," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Tom Ardt said. "Juniata really battled hard and we were able to match their energy, and then Kenny and Dan did great for us to score those second and third goals. Overall it was another good step, and we really appreciate the faculty and staff who came out to the game today to support us and support Charger Athletics."

Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 1-3 all-time against the Eagles...Wednesday marked the first time since 1993 that the two teams had met...Lancaster Bible and Juniata played in 1991, 1992 and 1993, with the then-Indians, defeating the Chargers in all three matchups...As Ardt mentioned, Lancaster Bible celebrated winning the 2016-17 NEAC Presidents' Cup, by giving out free Lancaster Cupcake cupcakes to all student-athletes and faculty who came to the soccer games at Charger Field...Baffone scored his first collegiate goal last week against Cairn in his 57th career game and now has two goals in his last three games...Lancaster Bible is now 2-2 at Charger Field this season.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible heads to Center Valley, Pa. on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. contest against DeSales.