CHARLOTTE, NC – Senior midfielder Mauricio Castorino scored the go-ahead goal in the 52nd minute and graduate student Oier Bernaola added an insurance tally in the final minutes as Francis Marion University claimed a 3-1 road victory over Queens University of Charlotte, Wednesday night (Oct. 6) in non-conference men's soccer play.
 
FMU improves to 5-4-1 and will return to Conference Carolinas action on Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. home match against Lees-McRae College.  The Patriots are one of three unbeaten squads in the conference with a 4-0-0 mark.
 
Senior midfielder Oliver Peters gave Francis Marion a 1-0 advantage when he scored an unassisted goal at the 30:46 mark.  He dribbled 40 yards to near the left side of the 6-yard box and his cross deflected off a Royals defender and into the goal.  The Royals answered with the tying score by Tyler Tin only 4:27 later.
 
FMU had a pair of shots in the final two minutes of the opening half, but neither found the back of the net leaving the score knotted at halftime.
 
In a precursor of things to come, senior defender Sam Pollard sent a 49th-minute corner kick into the penalty area, but the header by Bernaola was punched over the crossbar by Queens goalkeeper Tim Tretbar.  Eventually, Castorino put the Patriots ahead for good with an unassisted goal at 52:52. He dribbled into the penalty area and beat Tretbar to his right with an 8-yard shot than snuck just inside the right post.
 
Bernaola increased the margin to 3-1 when he beat Tretbar with a strong header off a corner kick by Pollard with 8:39 remaining, an eerily similar play to the 49th-minute action, but with a different result.
 
FMU registered a 16-9 lead in shots and posted a commanding 9-4 edge in corner kicks.
 
Patriot senior goalkeeper Riccardo Rossi earned his third consecutive win by recording two saves – one in each half.  Tretbar made three stops.
 
 
Francis Marion Univ. (5-4-1) def. Queens NC (3-5-1) 3-1
Date: Oct. 6, 2021   Attendance: 20
 
Goals by period          1  2  Tot
Francis Marion Univ.   1  2 -  3
Queens (N.C.).......     1  0 -  1
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
1-0.  30:46 FMU Oliver Peters (unassisted)
2-0.  35:03 QUMSOC21 TIN, Tyler (POPLAWSKI, Yuri)
3-0.  51:52 FMU Mauricio Castorino (unassisted)
4-0.  81:21 FMU Oier Bernaola (Sam Pollard) – header off corner kick
 
Shots: Francis Marion 16, Queens NC 9 ; Saves: Francis Marion 2 (Riccardo Rossi 2), Queens NC 3 (Tim Tretbar 3)