LAKE WALES, Fla. – A late goal by Matthias Klatt lifted the Embry-Riddle men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Warner in both teams' Sun Conference opener at Royals' Field on Thursday. The 15th-ranked Eagles are now 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the league, while the Royals drop to 5-2-1 and 0-1 in the conference.

The Eagles were the better of the two teams offensively in the first half as evidenced by their 11-4 shot advantage. The Blue and Gold had a chance to take the lead in the 27th minute when Ryan Woods lofted a ball in to Ryan Maloney who was able to shake defender to get a shot off. His attempt beat Warner goalkeeper Jonathan Romero low but banged off the far post to keep the score level at 0-0.

With 3:04 left in the first half a Warner defender was called for a hand ball inside the 18-yard box. Maloney stepped up to take the resulting penalty kick and converted on his first attempt from the spot this season to put the Eagles up 1-0.

The Eagles had another chance to add to their tally in the closing seconds of the half when Sam Litchfield dispossessed a defender just outside the box. He dribbled around two more defenders to give himself an opening, but once again the woodwork proved to be Romero's best ally as Litchfield's shot went off the cross bar to leave the score at 1-0 at the half.

In the 59th minute, the Eagles were forced to play with just 10 men after a red card was issued.  The Royals eventually capitalized on the one-man advantage when a Carlo Coehlo goal tied the match with 23 minutes left to play.

Following the Warner goal, the Embry-Riddle coaching staff made a few adjustments in the line-up, one of which was moving Matthias Klatt and Michael Donald from defensive positions to the midfield. The switch breathed new life into the Eagles' attacking movements as they began to create more scoring chances.

As the game progressed, the Eagles looked less and less like the team down a player. They continued to pressure the Warner offense and with 3:31 remaining, their persistence paid off. Klatt took the ball off a Warner midfielder and elected to take the ball into the box himself where he rifled a low shot past Romero into the lower left corner to give the Eagles the win.

Romero finished with five saves on the night, while ERAU's Kile Kennedy collected four saves in the win.

The Eagles return to action at 3 p.m. on Oct. 1 when they close out a four-game road swing with a trip to Boca Raton to take on NCAA II seventh-ranked Lynn.