The Dominican University men's soccer team picked up a 2-1 win in non-conference play in River Forest on Saturday afternoon, topping the 18^th-ranked North Park University Vikings on Carmelo Abate's (Bartlett, Ill.) goal in the 81^st minute.

"That was a good, hard-fought win today," said Erick Baumann, the Stars' head coach.  "The guys really came together, worked hard and earned the result today. I'm really happy for them."
 
The Stars fell behind in the 17^th minute as Pedrum Tahmi-Masoleh was sent in behind the Dominican backline on a pass from Diego Lashlee.  Tahmi-Masoleh poked a shot that banged off the far post before finding its way into Dominican's goal to stake the Vikings to a 1-0 lead.
 
Dominican weathered the storm for the next five minutes but was able to organize and push forward for the last 20 minutes of the first half, putting pressure on the Vikings' backline.  The Stars nearly netted the equalizer in the 41^st minute but Adam Yaghmour's (Norridge, Ill.) one-timer sailed high after Frankie Saiz (Naperville, Ill.) placed a head ball near the penalty area.
 
Dominican continued to press forward, looking for the equalizer early in the second half.  While surrendering just one shot during the first eight minutes of the second half, Dominican finally tallied the game-tying goal in the 64^th minute on the Stars' third shot on goal in the second half.  Ryan Ybarra (Des Plaines, Ill.) got on the end of Trent Miller's (Rockford Ill.) long throw into the Vikings' six-yard box, flicking the ball inside the far post for Ybarra's third goal of the season.
 
The two Central Region sides went toe-to-toe for the next 17 minutes, trading shots and fouls until Dominican scored the game-winner in the 81^st minute. 
 
Cameron Rogers (Muskegon, Mich.), fresh off the Dominican bench, chased a ball down to the corner before using a North Park defender to earn the Stars their fifth corner of the second half.  The Vikings survived that corner but cleared the ball over the endline again, giving Dominican another restart opportunity.  This time, the Stars played Saiz near the edge of the 18-yard box.  Saiz chipped a ball towards the back post where Abate brought it down with his head before walking the game-winner into the goal.
 
The physical nature of the match stepped up following the go-ahead score with four fouls and four cautions coming in the final five minutes of play.
 
The Vikings outshot the Stars 17-8 but Dominican surrendered just three shots on goal while putting four shots on frame.  Dominican also held an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Gabriel Gongora (Naperville, Ill.) picked up the win in goal for Dominican, recording one save in playing the final 45 minutes. 
 
The win pushes the Stars to 10-4-2 on the season.  Dominican returns to Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play on Tuesday, traveling down Division Street to Concordia University Chicago.  Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in the matchup of the two River Forest rivals.