KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila men's soccer was locked into a tight battle for the full 90 minutes, but one strike from Harris-Stowe with almost exactly 15 minutes remaining proved to be the difference, and the Hornets (2-3-0) escaped with a 2-1 win over the Eagles (2-3-0) on Wednesday afternoon at The Z.

Harris-Stowe came into the match on a three match losing streak, while the Eagles were fresh off last week's landmark victory over Kansas Christian. Goalkeeper Jonathan Fager made his Avila debut in the final seven minutes against the Falcons last week and made his first start as an Eagle on Wednesday against the Hornets and largely looked sharp, giving his offense a chance to rally for a result.

It was Harris-Stowe that struck first on a bit of a wonky left-footed shot from Alessio Capitonlino that dipped under Fager's right hand and into the net in the 19^th minute. Eight minutes later, Capitonlino picked up a yellow card for a foul just outside the box, and Brennan Ortega stepped up and delivered a curling cross towards the back post. Nobody touched the ball on its way to the target, and certainly not Harris-Stowe goalkeeper Jelle Dik, who dove but could not get a piece as the ball sneaked inside the post. Ortega's second goal of the season tied the game up midway through the first half.

And for just about 50 minutes, that's where the score would remain. Dik made his first (and only) save of the match 11 minutes in on a strong header from AJ Rankin, and both Malcolm Goswell and Landon Burdick had bids as well. But ultimately, it was Harris-Stowe who found the breakthrough through forward Filip Pavlovic. He had whiffed on a prime opportunity to put the Hornets in front about 20 minutes prior but made no mistake on his second chance, pushing a strong shot past Fager and giving the Hornets their second lead with 14:59 showing on the game clock.

Avila made a few subs to change up their personnel for a late push, but the Eagles could not find the equalizer for the second time. Fager made one more save off Slayde Stokes to bring his game total to seven, but Harris-Stowe had done enough to leave Kansas City with a tight 2-1 win.

This was Avila's final scheduled non-conference match of the season, so next up for Avila men's soccer is their first KCAC match of the 2022 campaign. That comes up this Saturday, September 17, in North Newton, Kansas against Bethel, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 PM. Tickets can be purchased online, and you can watch all the action on the KCAC Network.