Down 2-0 late in the first half, things looked gloomy for the UW-Parkside men's soccer team. The Rangers scored a goal late in the first half, then out-scored visiting Saint Joseph's, 2-0, in the second set of 45 minutes to defeated the Pumas, 3-2, in thrilling fashion. The Great Lakes Valley Conference clash was contested at Wood Road Field on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Tyler Kincaid and Nick Filloon scored at 16:07 and 37:40 respectively to give the Pumas a decided early advantage. This, despite the fact the Rangers had put eight shots on goal compared to the Pumas' four at the time of the second goal.

Andrew Gamarra (Lexington, Ken.) gave the Rangers some life heading into halftime with a goal at 42:52. It was set up by the Jovicic brothers (Milwaukee, Wis.), Bojan and Zoran.

"Rather than having players wilt under pressure as was the case sometimes in the past, we stepped up as a group," said UW-Parkside associate head coach Jason Zitzke.

Renaldo Vega (Oakdale, Minn) moved the mesh at 53:44 with an assist from Jose Alfaro (Aurora, Ill.) to force a 2-2 deadlock. Later, at 75:37, Johnson Thao (St. Paul, Minn.) notched the game winner with help from his cousin, Tim Thao (Maplewood, Minn.).

"We stuck with it and found a way to win," said Zitzke.

The Rangers had the better of play, firing 26 shot attempts, 13 of which were on goal. Ranger goalkeeper Victor Perez (Kenosha, Wis.) turned away three of the five shots the Pumas put on net.

"It was encouraging to see us score some goals, especially when we fell behind," reasoned Zitzke. "That hasn't always been the case this year."

The Rangers boosted their overall record to 7-4-1. The team is 3-4-1 in the GLVC. St. Joseph's fell to 3-9 overall and 2-5 in conference play.

UW-Parkside will hit the road for its next game, at Southern Indiana Friday, Oct. 5, beginning at 7:30 p.m.