Emitsburg, MD ? Iona scored the game-winning goal in the 51st minute to down Mount St. Mary's 2-1 in non-conference men's soccer action on Saturday.

Tonna Egbuchanum scored the decisive goal for the Gaels (3-3-3) in the 51st minute, while Giovanni Destatsio posted his third marker of the season in the first half. Netminder Nils Binstock came up big between the pipes with seven saves, including several diving stops in the final frame to help Iona to the victory.

After the Mountaineers tied the game early in the second half, the Gaels answered three minutes later and held on to take the second meeting between the two teams in program history.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, Mount St. Mary's got on the scoreboard when North connected with Phinith at the 47:45 mark on a shot past the diving goalkeeper.
Two minutes and 42 seconds later, Iona answered when Egbuchanum found the back of the net off a deflected pass by Pasquale Abiuso to hand the Gaels a 2-1 edge.

Iona got on the scoreboard in the opening period when Destasio took a long pass off the foot of Felipe Faundez and drilled the ball into the left netting at 29:30. The Gaels held off Mount St. Mary's in the final 40 minutes of the contest to seal the win.

Binstock made a diving save to his right on a point-blank shot by Steve Dellamore in the 61st minute. The Gaels' defense turned away a shot by Justin Coombs in the 64th minute before Jeffrey Orminston missed high a minute later. Binstock then made back-to-back diving stops when he turned away Eric Mullins' shot from 30-yards out in the 73rd minute and then snuffed Phinith at the top of the left box in the 74th minute. With the entire unit on the offensive end in the closing seconds of the match, Murphy gave Mount St. Mary's in final scoring chance, but Binstock caught the liner over his head to preserve the win.

The team looks to begin a winning streak with its first conference game of the season against Marist on Friday.