STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – Late game heroics by freshman Joe Duran and sophomore John Imbimbo propelled the Franciscan University men's soccer team to their first victory of 2013 over St. Vincent College.

Down 3-2, Duran tied the game for the Barons in the eighty-seventh minute with a rocket off his right foot from outside the box. Twelve seconds later another shot from Duran deflected in front of the net where Imbimbo tapped it in for the game-winning goal. The game also marked the first ever Baron victory over the Bearcats.

"We played really well in the first half," Franciscan head coach Ward Rogers said. "We made a couple of mistakes so at halftime we talked about how if we cut the mistakes out and kept the aggression going we would have a good second half."

That they did. At halftime the Barons were down 2-1 to SVC, their lone goal coming off of a penalty-kick from Imbimbo. Just nine minutes into the second half the Barons found themselves facing a two-goal deficit with just more than thirty minutes to play. Thats when they turned up the pressure.

"We never really give up and we keep trying to stay within our system to create opportunities and that is just the maturity of these guys," Rogers said. "What this game shows you is that we have the ability to create and when we create a chance and we don't finish, it's not going to be our last chance."

After the Bearcats had scored their third goal of the game in the fifty-first minute, the Barons had a great opportunity to narrow the deficit. Junior Brian Bobak took a thru-ball up the middle and was one-on-one with the SVC goalkeeper, but his shot went just wide right.

Just as Rogers said, this would not be the Baron's last chance to score. Three minutes later, Duran converted his first goal of the day unassisted to get the Barons back to within one.

The next thirty minutes of the game was a gritty grind by both teams to create scoring opportunities, with the Barons maintaining most of the possession. St. Vincent was issued two yellow cards, and Franciscan committed a foul right outside of the 18-yard box to give the Bearcats a free-kick that sailed just high of the net.

Finally, in the eighty-seventh minute, Duran found himself with an angle at the net from outside the right corner of the box. He put a strong right foot on the ball and watched it sail into the back-left side of the net to tie up the score.

Seconds later he stole the ball off the ensuing start and dribbled it through the heart of the SVC defense and fired another ball towards the net. That shot was knocked straight up into the air by the Bearcat keeper and landed right on the foot of a trailing Imbimbo, who tapped the ball easily into the back of the net for the eventual game-winner and sending the team and the large Franciscan crowd into a frenzy.

"They are both young underclassmen," Rogers said of Duran, a freshman, and Imbimbo, a sophomore. "But they both really understand the game and they combine well."

Rogers said the duo's chemistry let to a position change earlier this season. After realizing how well Duran and Imbimbo played together the team decided to move junior midfielder Peter Herrmann to defense.

"When we saw how well Joe played off of John we realized we have to keep them on the field together," Rogers said. "Peter Herrmann graciously agreed to change positions and actually made us a little stronger at the back. It really helped on both ends where we can keep Joe on the field longer and we can take advantage of Peter Herrmann's defensive skills."

Rogers also mentioned the stellar play and leadership from his captains, senior defender Peter Mooney and junior midfielder Jesse Salterelli.

"When you pray for a captain, Peter Mooney is the person who comes to mind," Rogers said. "Peter and Jesse are doing such a good job keeping the team up and staying true to our brotherhood. Their presence on the field is just like having two other coaches out there."

While the Barons will be able to bask in the excitement of their first win of the season – something that did not happen until the 14th game last year – they will take the confidence boost and move on to prepare for next week's opponents.

"We fully expect to win every game, but what this does is give us a little confidence in our system," Rogers said. "It doesn't change how we will prepare for the next team, but it makes us a little more confident in what we're doing."

The Barons, now 1-2 on the season, will host Thiel College on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 5 p.m.