NORTH MIAMI, Fla. - The 21st-ranked Embry-Riddle men's soccer team dropped their Sun Conference opener to Johnson & Wales on Saturday, 2-1 in the afternoon heat of North Miami. The Eagles (0-2-2, 0-1-0) scored first for the fourth time in as many matches, but failed to find the back of the net the rest of the contest as the Wildcats (4-3-0, 1-0-0) got the game-winner from Pedro Codo in the 69th minute to beat the Blue and Gold for the first time in program history.

Embry-Riddle returns to Daytona Beach next Wednesday, Oct. 1 for a 7 p.m. Sun Conference game against St. Thomas at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium.

Codo's game-winner came on his 10th shot of the day, a curling effort from the right side of the penalty area that beat Eagle goalkeeper Nils Carlson for a 2-1 lead that would hold up, despite the Wildcats playing a man down for the final 16 minutes of action following a second yellow card to a JWU defender.

Embry-Riddle struck first just 66 seconds into the match as Daniel Gylfason collected his team-leading third assist of the season when he found Veit Couturier in the left side of the Johnson & Wales' box and the senior notched his fourth goal in as many contests for the Blue and Gold.
 
The lead was very short lived however when Steve Njike put back a rebound past Nils Carlson just 15 seconds later following a nice save by the Eagle keeper.
 
The score was the first the Eagles had ever surrendered to the Wildcats, as Embry-Riddle entered the contest with a 55-0 all-time advantage in goals in five previous meetings.
 
The rest of the half provided a few opportunities, mostly for the visitors as they outshot Johnson & Wales, 12-8 with a 6-5 lead in shots on goal. Couturier had a header saved in the 18^th minute by JC Diego and a quick succession of Eagle shots by Lewis Blackmore, Gylfason and Moriba Ballah were blocked by Wildcat defenders as the two teams entered the halftime break knotted at 1-1.

The start of the second half was back-and-forth as each team tried to gain the upperhand. Carlson was called upon several times in the first 20 minutes of the final period to make saves on Wildcat shots from point blank range and he continued to turn them away until Codo's goal at the 68:32 mark.

Following Codo's score, the Eagles upped the pressure on JWU's defense, with many shots being blocked or saved by Diego and his teammates.

ERAU finished the match with a 24-19 shot advantage, but just seven were on frame for the Eagles, compared to 10 for the Wildcats.

Carlson made eight saves in the game while Diego came up with six for the Wildcats. Couturier's 11 shots paced the Blue and Gold while Codo took 10 for his squad.