FLORENCE, SC – Senior forward Elian Aguilar Valencia and graduate student midfielder Mario Buelga scored goals and Francis Marion University held off a late rally by Converse University to claim a hard-fought 2-1 win, Saturday evening (Sept. 27) in Conference Carolinas men's soccer action.
 
Francis Marion (2-2-3, 2-0-2) will continue conference play on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. contest at Barton College.  The Patriots will return home on Saturday, Oct. 4, to host Young Harris College for a 3:30 p.m. kick-off.  That match will be a celebration of 50 years of Patriot men's soccer.
 
FMU outshot the Valkyries 14-3 and held a 7-4 lead in corner kicks.
 
Converse (4-3-0, 3-1-0) threatened early, but a header by Jesper Schierholz went outside the right post at the 4:46 mark.
 
Less than a minute later, Aguilar Valencia gave Francis Marion a 1-0 lead at 5:39.  Buelga sent a long ball down the right sideline where Antonio Garda gained control and angled in toward the penalty area.  Garda crossed the ball to Aguilar Valencia who received the ball, turned, and blasted a left-footed 8-yard shot into the Converse goal.
 
Looking to double the margin, FMU forward Matteo Benistant missed wide left on a shot in the box at 20:44, and Buelga forced a diving save by Converse goalkeeper Harry O'Brien with a bending shot from the far right corner of the box in the 37th minute.  O'Brien finished with four saves.
 
Following a 15-minute delay to start the second half due to power outage, and with a light rain falling, the Patriots finally doubled their margin to 2-0 just 1:16 into the second stanza.  Benistant back-heeled a pass to Buelga in the penalty area for a 7-yard shot that careened off the right post and in.
 
Three minutes later, Francis Marion threatened again after a corner kick.  Benistant headed down a shot from three yards out that was saved off the goal line by a Converse defender, and the Garda was wide on a follow-up shot seconds later.
 
Buelga made a nice lay-off pass to Toufik Najem in the 63rd minute, but his 26-yard blast sailed high and over the crossbar.  Senior midfielder Edgar Zuber had two opportunities when he got behind the Valkyries backline.  His shot was pushed out for a corner kick by O'Brien at 66:17, and then in the 76th minute, O'Brien came off his line to smother the ball before Zuber could get a shot off.
 
Converse did finally close the gap to 2-1 at the 82:51 mark when Luis Fortuce headed in a corner kick by Schierholz.
 
The Patriot defense then tightened up and did not allow another shot for the remainder of the match.